Chained to the Stratospere x girls und panzer
by justanotherloser19
Summary: When an American high school crew of a b-17f looses its way after a bloody match, they crash land on a school carrier. They will have to get acquainted with their new neighbors until they can get back to the states.
1. Chapter 1

(This is a story I have been creating for years, but decided to do a fanfic crossover to see how it would go, hope you enjoy.)

(chapter 1)

The sun started to set across the ocean's horizon; a look of discontent appeared on Juan's face as he looked at the orange colored sky riddled with pink clouds. His eyes quickly shifted to the fuel gauges, all almost reaching empty. " How much more do you think we'll be able to keep her flying?" asked Joe. Juan looked at his co-pilot that he'd been flying with for almost five months, yet considered him like a brother. He had long dirty blonde hair that curled over the sides of his worried face as he took another puff of a cigarette. " Not very long I think" Juan replied. '' We're flying on three engines, our B-17 took a beating and Rick is trying his best to locate where we are at,but since his map and instruments took a flak burst, he's having trouble ". Joe looked away from Juan towards the sky which was getting darker and took another puff." We should lighten up our load; I guess the match is long over by now so I'm sure no one will shoot us down". Juan nodded and clenched his throat as he spoke into a mic that gave his order as he kept checking the ocean of dials and switches that was in front of him. "Boys, we're flying on three engines, so lets lighten up. The match is probably over and there is no enemies in sight, so we can loose our guns but, no matter what keep searching the horizon for anything that we can land on".

"Hey skip?" came a voice from over the intercom. "Yeah Brock?" replied Juan in a tense tone. " I've got some bad news and some good news" The entire aircraft went silent except the constant roar of the three remaining Wright Cyclone engines. "So far, I cant find any stations to make contact with, so we are in the dark in the most part. Chuck fully checked over the tracker in the back and the thing is shot to shit, so we cant be located. Along with that nobody has been able to find anything on the horizon except ocean". A feeling of sadness ran throughout the B-17. " On a lighter note, but I know it wont make any difference, but I found a AM radio station from somewhere so we can have some music." The crew still didn't make a noise. Juan stared straight ahead, unmoved; his mind lost in thoughts. Thoughts of anger, sadness and hatred for himself that were mixed in with memories of September, his ultimate failure. He wanted to scream, scream out how he felt. How he felt worthless, weak, pathetic and his feeling of not wanting to be there anymore. He kept delving deeper and deeper into his train of self hating thoughts. '"Should we play some music?" asked a voice. Juan snapped out of his trance and quickly looked at Joe in a confused gaze. "What?"

" Should we let Brock play the radio? Might ease the stress of knowing what will be coming in a few hours don't ya think?" asked Joe. After a few seconds, Juan finally responded"y-yeah, sounds like a good idea. Hey Brock, what kind of music is it?" There was a period of uneasy silence until the radio operator responded "I'm not sure, I think its hip hop or electropop". "play it " hastily remarked Juan. After a few seconds, a hip hop instrumental started playing on the intercom and gave the environment a new mood. "You alright Juan?" asked Joe in a concerned tone "You didn't seem like yourself a few moments ago." "I'm alright, just the nerves I guess" quickly replied Juan. "Something's on your mind isn't it?" Juan kept starring forward towards the now darkened horizon, his eyes slightly shifting to the panel. "I got a feeling on what it is, and I've already told you don't focus on it too much, all it will do is bring more pain." said Joe. Juan looked towards him with an agitated stare; "It wasn't your fault Juan, you did the best you possibly could." added Joe. Juan's face saddened a bit and his eyes turned away from his co-pilot.

The crippled four engine behemoth slowly kept flying throughout the star filled night sky. A full moon covered the entire ocean and the B-17 in a soft aura of white light as drifting cloud were scattered about. Lights from within the aircraft showed a couple of figures standing close to large windows slightly aft from the middle of the fuselage looking out. "I got a question Tony, one I've been wanting to ask you for quite some time" asked Chuck. His hazel eyes never leaving the sight he saw outside from his waist gunner window. His brown hair barely flickering under his tan baseball cap. "What do you want to ask me man?' replied a voice with a slight New York accent. "Why, in the hell did you decide to wear a damn Hawaiian shirt to this match?" asked Chuck in an amused tone. "Cuz I felt like it, besides, they said we were going to fly a match in Japan; So, I wanted to wear something tropical." remarked Tony. He had a slender face with a slight five'o clock shadow and shaggy black hair that looked like he barely got out of bed. "Well, you look like a stereotypical American tourist who always shits on other cultures" laughed Chuck as he turned towards Tony. " Well, fuck you too" replied Tony jokingly. "I myself think I look pretty fucking cool" he added.

While they conversed another crewmember walked up to them. He had dark hair coming out of the edges of his tan flight helmet. He had thin round glasses and a gold cross necklace around his neck. "You two seem pretty happy due to our circumstances." he commented. "Oh hey Doc" said Chuck; " Doc" added Tony as he nodded. Chuck looked over where Doc was standing. "Yeah, I mean, like the feeling is still there Doc, but-". paused chuck as his face turned serious. "But, it feels so far away you know? Like, something out of a dream or something." Chuck continued he looked at Doc. Doc looked back at Chuck with a face that was unmoving, yet had a sense of curiosity. "You know Doc, its funny; I had never expected death to take so long to come. But when he finally does show his sorry ass up, I'm going to chew that fucker out on why he took to long hehe" said Chuck as he slightly grinned at Doc. Though he saw him grin, Doc knew behind that grin was an individual who was scared. He heard fear and sadness in Chuck's tone. He didn't want to bring in more reality into the situation, though it kept growing by each passing minute. "I like your sense of humor" he stated at Chuck as he tried his best to make a smile. "Help us Father, please" he thought as he smiled.

"Cut fuel, feather prop" said Juan as he looked at the engine that was outside his window. "Got it" replied Joe. The propeller slowly stopped then the blades turned inwards. "Two engines" silently whispered Joe. A wave of sadness hit Juan; "yeah" he responded. Both Juan and Joe had faces that showed defeat and acceptance as they both continued looking forward. They had given up hope on any chance of salvation, yet pressed on because it was the only thing they could do. "Did you expect to die like this Juan?" Suddenly asked Joe. Juan kept starring forward as he replied in a tone that easily showed how he truly felt." To be honest, I never put much thought into it. I just thought when I die, I die. I never really thought on the details." Joe knew from his dull tone that he was truly depressed, more than anything he witnessed before. Joe expected a question in return, but was only met with silence.

Music was the only thing that echoed throughout the bomber. All conversations had all but stopped as time slowly progressed; all the crew stared out their windows or were doing things that they thought seemed appropriate in their hopeless predicament. "Uh skip, I think I might know where we might be at" said a voice over the intercom. Juan slightly regained an inkling of hope as his eyes widened. "What is it Rick?" he replied in a curious tone. "Well, I found out where we are by using what's left of my star chart and map" announced Rick. "And?" asked Juan, his curiosity and hope rising every second as he hoped that the reply would give him news that would make him scream and cry in joy. " I finally figured out we've been flying southeast from mainland Japan, and in the process we bypassed a lot of islands that were south of us. We're are heading deeper into the Pacific, hundreds of miles from any strip of sand; and due to us being on pretty much fuel fumes, we wont make it back if we decided to turn around. I'm so sorry boss." Juan felt his soul was finally crushed and he started to silently sob. Joe glanced over to Juan, but he didn't say anything, he too was on the verge on breaking down.

" You did the best you could" said Erik as he looked back at Rick. " Not many people can figure out where they are at with a fucked up map". he grinned; Rick looked towards the bombardier. He had dark slick back hair under his tan crush cap and a white t-shirt with a bright yellow life vest. Rick's face was unmoved, but he could tell the words were genuine. Erik's eyes shifted to something that was on what was left of Rick's desk . "I'm still surprised you brought that damn anime figurine you bought back in Tokyo with us, and I'm still trying to figure out how that fucker survived while your station got shot to shit". Rick quickly tuned to his figure and smiled. "Maybe she's just as lucky as the Legend hehe" he chuckled as he studied the eight inch scantily clad Neko girl. He kept staring at it until he looked back to Erik." It was a privilege to fight next to you my friend, and navigate you guys game after game." Rick said as his face saddened. "Don't mention it, I'm glad I fought next to you and the guys. You guys became my second family to be honest, and yes I know it sounds cheesy as fuck, but I mean it; you guys are like brothers to me." replied Erik. Then he suddenly stuck his hand in front of him; Rick looked at it and he did the same. Erik gave a cocky grin as they shook hands. "Might as well enjoy the view since it'll be the last time we'll be up here" he said as he turned towards the Plexiglass nose. He stared to the night horizon that was in front of him. He glanced to the right and was about to look left when something caught his eye. "Rick, pass me the binoculars!" he exclaimed. Rick quickly grabbed them and passed them to Erik. He quickly snatched them and looked through them towards something in the distance. His heart raced and he was quickly overrun with emotions. "Oh my god!" he exclaimed under his breath.


	2. CTTS x GUP, chapter 2

(This is chapter 2, I'm sorry for the confusion I've caused. I'm new to this site, so I screwed up a bit and deleted the other draft for chapter 2)

"Juan, Juan!" exclaimed a voice over the intercom. Juan jumped in surprise in his seat as the loud voice disrupted the deathly silence. "what is it Erik!?" responded Juan in a curious, and still shocked tone. "Look right, right of us, Look!" He yelled. Juan and Joe immediately looked out the right window of the cockpit. Juan squinted his eyes and saw lights in the distance over the ocean's surface. "Joe, give me the binocs!" He exclaimed. Joe quickly reached beside his seat and pulled out a pair of used black binoculars with silver showing on the edges. Juan immediately grabbed them and looked through them, his heart racing faster and faster with each passing second. Through the dim moonlit night, he was able to see lights that were so bright they stood out against the black sea. "Oh my god" he whispered as a big grin began to appear on his face. "He gave the binoculars to his co-pilot who quickly looked through them as well. He looked at Joe, and he noticed that he too grew a big smile, a smile full of hope and relief. Without saying anything, Juan turned his steering yolk to the right. The lumbering bomber slowly turned in the direction of the lights, as if they were beckoning the bomber to fly towards them. "Boys, I think we might make it out of this mess alive." announced Juan; his voice full of happiness. He felt a huge weight lifted off his weary shoulders. All he could do was stare what was right in front of him with eyes shining bright.

"Brock, try to find a frequency and see if you can contact them" said Joe as he looked at the instruments and gauges. "Juan, how are we doing on fuel?" he added. Juan glanced over the fuel gauges. "We are pretty much on empty, but I think we might make it to the lights to land, depending what they are". he responded in a worried, yet confident tone. Joe's face tightened; "Strange, I don't remember islands being this deep in the pacific on any map, maybe they're lights from a ship" he said as he turned to Juan. "Whatever the fuck they are, we are going towards them, we are not going to die, not after coming this far". Juan replied, his gaze shifting back to the mysterious lights. His sights then quickly turned to a bobble head that was gently shaking its head back and fourth. It was a video game character, who had a mask of a father, armor of giants, its arms spread out in mocking gesture and a large sword on one of its hands. He hadn't noticed it earlier due his mind being clouded and feelings in a mess. "Hope you can help us out again little guy". He thought to himself. Minutes slowly passed by as the B-17 went closer and closer to the lights, pressure and tension growing faster. "Sir, I'm getting a frequency, but I can't make it out; it seems like its in Japanese!" announced Brock. "Well, its going to be harder to tell them what's going on then; either way, send them a distress signal" quickly ordered Juan. "Jesus Christ!" exclaimed Erik over the intercom. "Its fucking huge!"

Juan and Joe looked ahead of what lay before them. "You were right Joe; they were lights from a ship, a school ship." remarked Juan, his eyes examining the large brightly lit moving object. "Skip, I've sent the message, but I keep getting the same response; I think". Interrupted Brock in a nervous tone. Juan was beginning to feel anxiety crawl over him. He was sweating and breathing slightly faster as his hands tightened the control yolk tighter. "Spam that shit if you have too, they'll get the damn message!" he quickly blurted out; traces of panic were within his voice. He saw hope just miles away from him, yet he felt it was quickly disappearing. He couldn't understand what it was, his mind already was full of multiple thoughts quickly switching out back and fourth to think over it. He continued to switch his sights between his target and his instrument panel; maybe it was panic, joy, desperation or stress that prevented from thinking straight, but in reality it was a mix of all of those feelings coming together in a situation that called for the opposite.

Brock's voice came over the intercom once again. "Juan, I don't know h-" The intercom suddenly went dead, the music that still played died and the lights within the aircraft quickly shut off, only leaving the instrument panel barely lit. "Fuck, we've lost the electrics!" shouted Juan as he yanked away the cord to his throat mic. Juan turned behind him and yelled in a tone of panicked desperation. "Chris, see if you can fix it!" He quickly turned around and looked at the ship that got closer and closer. Suddenly, a loud whining noise caught the attention of Juan and Joe, which was quickly followed by a bright orange glow. Juan turned his attention towards the glow, his eyes widening with horror. "AH SHIT, NUMBER ONE IS ON FIRE!" he screamed as he looked at the burning engine. Juan and Joe quickly clicked and flickered switched and dials as fast as they could. "Prop won't feather, extinguishers ain't working either; Juan we are loosing her!" exclaimed Joe as he looked at Juan. "We are loosing altitude, we got to land" said Juan as he looked over at the burning engine again. He was beginning to feel panic growing inside him by the second. " We don't have time to lower the gear by hand, we have to do a belly landing" said Joe; "I know, I know" quickly responded Juan. He turned and yelled at the top of his lungs "EVERYONE, PREPARE FOR CRASH LANDING!" Erik, Rick, go to the radio room, everybody else do the same!" he quickly added. "Hold on baby, don't fail us yet, hold on" grunted Juan as the aircraft began to violently shake.

Meanwhile, on the school carrier walked a girl wearing a German officers hat. She was carrying a bag of groceries and was mumbling to herself as she continued on her path. "Damn Cesar, wanting snacks at this hour, I had to walk halfway across the ship to find a shop that is still open". She looked around and noticed the calm in the sleeping neighborhood. Suddenly, she heard a noise that seemed to get louder and louder to her location. "What's that?" she asked herself as she turned around and looked up. The noise turned into a massive roar as her mouth gaped open and her eyes widened as a B-17 on fire trailing thick black smoke roared past her. In the split second it flew over her, as if it was slow motion, she was able to make out two figures in the cockpit. Then the B-17 disappeared behind the wall of houses as quickly as it appeared, only leaving behind a flailing trail of smoke. Lights in the houses started to turn on one by one as people looked out their windows to see what was the commotion. She stood there motionless as she tried to comprehend what just happened. The bag of groceries dropped from her hands as she started to run towards the direction of the falling bomber.

"The forest, aim for the forest!" yelled Juan as he tried to control the behemoth with one hand and adjust the throttle with he other. "There's a clearing over there!" yelled Joe as he pointed to a fairly large opening in the forest. "We're coming in too fast!" Juan growled as he and Joe turned the listing bomber; "HOLD ON" he screamed at the top of his lungs as the ground grew closer and closer. He was in a mix of panic and an unhealthy dose of adrenaline. Then, time seemed to stop; if only for a few seconds. Juan turned to his co-pilot and saw him grit his teeth that shined in the moonlight. He turned towards his left and saw the countryside, all covered in a faint glow of white with shadows from the trees stretching across the uneven clearing. He was entranced by the stunning calm view, suddenly a loud crash interrupted his trance as he felt his body violently move forward as he instinctively crossed his arms across his face.

The bomber smashed into the ground and bounced up into the air as the burning engine ripped away from the wing sending it and flaming chunks of aluminum flying the air. The tip of the left wing tore away from the aircraft as it dug itself into the ground like a knife. Glass from the cockpit windows shattered from the violent action, sending them whizzing about. The propeller of engine no.3 kept spinning as its blades chopped through the ground and bending themselves around the cowling. The bomber crashed down again as it slid leaving behind twisted and mangled debris in its wake. As it quickly slid across the ground, the edge of the right wing crashed into a tree that was nearby with a force so strong it slashed the wing which became lodged in the tree and turned the bomber sideways. It kept sliding until it hit a small hill, which smashed in the nose and sent the mangled wreck in the air once again a few feet above the ground, where it finally crashed in a ditch. After a few moments, everything was quiet and the dust settled. The tail of the aircraft was sticking out at angle as the bomber lied in its ditch, which was covered with metallic debris and smoke.

"Uuhhhh" groaned Juan as he put his hand on his head which was throbbing slightly. He raised his head slowly and tried to asses the damage. The plexiglass windows were shattered and chunks of it were scattered about the cockpit. He looked up where the bobble head was at and was surprised to still see it standing there, the head bouncing around slowly. "Thank you again Legend" he thought to himself. "Ah God" mumbled Joe as slowly started to move his body. Juan turned to his co-plot and saw a large streak of blood coming down the side of his face. "Joe, you're bleeding" he said worriedly. "Its nothing, I'm okay, I'm okay" replied Joe as he touched the blood and looked at it. Juan suddenly remembered about the rest of the guys who were in the radio room. "Is everybody alright back there?" he asked weakly. There was no reply. Is there anybody whose dead back there?" he followed. Again, there was no reply. He started to panic, fearing that he did it again, the same situation that haunted him everyday ever since it occurred. He felt tears come down his cheeks when suddenly groans and mumbles started emanating from the compartment. Juan opened his tear filled eyes and looked back in the darkness. "I'm already dead on the inside if that counts skip" loudly commented a voice. Juan grinned as he sobbed, "always with the jokes Erik" he thought, as he wiped away the tears. "Everybody is okay back here skip, we're fine". Erik said. "thank god" silently said Joe as he started to remove his seatbelts.

Suddenly, there was a strong smell in the air, a smell Juan knew, but couldn't name it in the moment. "what's that smell?" asked Joe. At that moment, Juan finally remembered what it was. "Its fuel" he calmly replied. Immediately , his mind stopped itself and he looked outside of the shattered cockpit and saw fire that was on the wing where the engine was. "That's, fuel; That's Fuel!" he loudly said as he quickly tried to unbuckle his seatbelts in a panic. Joe overlooked Juan and saw the orange fire as it flickered, his eyes staring at it. "Fuck!" he yelled as he began to quickly get out of his seat. He quickly looked at Juan who was still unbuckling his seatbelts. "Go, get the rest of the men outta here, I'll be right behind yall!" Juan exlaimed in a nervous, yet confident tone as he kept struggling in the dimly lit cockpit. Joe nodded and walked through the open door that seperated the cockpit from the bombay, only noticing the door that connected the bomb bay to the radio room was closed. He felt a huge wave of panic and energy hit him, and he quickly banged on the door and yelled" Open the God Damn door! The plane is going to explode, we got to get the fuck out of here!"

With a click, the belts came undone and Juan quickly got out of his seat and was about to run when he looked back at the instrument panel and focused on the bobble head. He lunged forward and grabbed it, ripping it off its velcro pad and then he turned around and headed towards the bomb bay. 'CRACK', CRACK!' echoed the loud noises throughout the dark compartment. "Arrgghhh" grunted Joe as he supported himself on aluminum struts that were behind him. 'Door's jammed!" he blurted out as he kicked it again, cracking the wooden door, bending it slightly inwards. Juan stared at him and the door in the darkness, his heart racing faster and faster. Breathing heavily and sweating, Joe grabbed every ounce of strength he had left and kicked forward "Come on you Fuck!" he screamed as the door finally busted from its hinges. Joe stumbled through the opening, Juan quickly followed behind. The crew was trying to escape the tilted fuselage from every possible opening. Some jumped out the waist windows, others through the waist door, everybody trying to escape the time bomb. "Lets get out of here!" yelled Joe as he turned to Juan; he then quickly climbed out the radio room window and into the star lit sky. "Come On!" He added as he stuck his hand back into the compartment so Juan could grab it. Without thinking twice, Juan tightly grabbed his hand and pulled himself out of the plane. They slid down the fuselage and ran across what was left of the wing and jumped onto the ground. Juan felt relieved to feel hard ground under his feet, but this feeling quickly disappeared as he ran as fast as he could from the burning wreck.

Panting heavily, the girl finally reached the location of the crash site. She then stood motionless, as she saw the massive object sticking out of the ground; suddenly, she noticed figures runnng away in all directions from the b-17 in a sporatic manner. Some were running towards her direction; they got closer and closer to her, yet she stood there confused and somewhat admiring the fallen queen that laid yards away from her. As Juan kept running, he saw a girl standing yards away from him, confused on her being there, he started waving his arms and yelled for her to get away.


	3. Chapter 3

The girl's attention quickly shifted to an individual flailing his arms as he kept running towards her. "Is this person crazy or on something?" she thought as he kept getting closer, yet she didn't move. "Is this stupid bitch just going to stand there?" thought Juan as he kept running. The girl still stood her ground, undeterred by the strangers as yelling echoed throughout the black forest. Juan examined her features in seconds, though it seemed like minutes. She had blonde hair in the shape of a fox's head that seemed to reflect the moonlight. She was wearing a German officer's cap and a dark blue school uniform that blended into the night. As he examined her, she did the same to him. She was intrigued by the clothing Juan wore. "Get down, She's going to blow!" yelled Juan to the girl, but he saw her face respond to the warning with a confused look. 'Fuck, I really have to do this?' Juan asked himself as he opened his arms. The girl immediately moved herself in a defense position as Juan was inches in front of her, but in a flash he wrapped his arms around her back and head as they dived behind a small ditch turning himself in the air so he would take the brute of the fall. The girl's mind was quickly overrun with different thoughts and emotions as she tried to comprehend why the boy 'hugged' her. She felt that time crawled to a halt as she felt the stranger's tight embrace around her. With a hard thud Juan landed in the grass, his head hitting the tough cold ground. He opened his eyes he looked right into the girl's; he noticed how they shined and glittered in the darkness. The girl looked straight into Juan's eyes, and time seemed to stop as they were both lost in a trance. "Juan, don't get too comfy now!" exclaimed Joe as he slid down the ditch. Juan immediately shook his head and came back into reality and remembered the situation. He turned on his side and let go of the girl and crawled next to Joe who was looking back towards the wreck.

"It should have exploded by now." silently said Juan as he kept looking at the fire. "Maybe there wasn't enough fuel, we were on fumes pretty much" responded Joe as he squinted trying to focus his eyes. There was an uneasy silence throughout the grassy field as all eyes concentrated on the bomber. The girl slowly crawled next to Juan and focused her sights to the bomber as well. "Who's the chick?' asked Joe as he shifted his view towards her. "I don't know, I found her standing nearby" blurted Juan. "Did everyone get out!?" suddenly exclaimed a voice on the other side of the field, interrupting the silence. "Everybody call in!" yelled Juan, putting his hand next to his mouth to make the order louder. From the brightly moonlit field came responses in all directions one by one. "Tail gunner checking in", "Ball turret checking in" right waist checking in"; left waist checking in". 'Five, six, seven' counted Juan in his head as each crewmember checked in;"Radio operator checking in" yelled the last crewmember. "That's eight, plus you and me makes ten; we all made it out" said Juan as he looked at Joe. "Thank god" remarked Joe as he closed his eyes and put his head on the ground and silently whispered something that was addressed to someone he knew was overlooking them. Juan kept looking at the fire and noticed that it was getting smaller and weaker. he slightly grinned as Joe slowly stood up and yelled on the top of his lungs. "Everyone, come over here!" echoed the order as he started waving his arm. Slowly, dark shadows started running across the white field towards Juan and Joe. Juan then suddenly remembered something that slipped his mind during the commotion and checked his hand. To his horror he realized he dropped the bobble head behind as he ran and he didn't notice it. He quickly started looking at the field in different directions and started making abrupt scurrying movements around him as his mind raced. Joe looked at him and smiled; Juan immediately stopped and looked in Joe with a face of pure annoyance. "Here, don't drop him next time" Joe said as he showed Juan that he had the bobble head. "Keep loosing our good luck charm we might consider you a fucking jinx" he added as he handed Juan the bobble head. "Hold on to it, you're more organized than me" replied Juan to Joe's gesture. He then turned towards the girl that was sitting next to him, looking at them with a face of curiosity mixed with a slight hint of fear. "I'm sorry that I did that" said Juan in his most apologetic tone as he looked down in embarrassment "You didn't move to find cover and we thought the bomber was going to explode, so again I'm sorry" he added. He looked up and saw her face was blank and confused; 'egotistical bitch' Juan immediately thought as he slightly frowned. " I said I'm sorry" Juan continued, only to be met with the same response. ' You don't have to act stuck up' he thought as he kept starring at her. Then, like a flash of stupidity, it donned on him. He put his face in his hand and slowly mumbled, "Ah fuck, you don't understand me do you?" Joe suddenly burst out laughing as Juan looked back at him with glaring eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I couldn't help it. It looked so stupid, like a shitty romance movie haha". "Why didn't you say anything if you knew she wasn't going to understand me?" replied Juan with a bitter tone. " I thought you already knew, you two were all over each other when I stumbled upon yall, so I figured that you found out she wouldn't understand you." said Joe as he looked down at them. " That made no fucking sense what you just said" slowly replied Juan. At that moment, all the other eight crewmembers showed up and formed a semi circle around the three trio. "What did we miss?" asked Doc who was then suddenly silenced when a small Asian boy, wearing a beaten old blue ball cap and a slight grin loudly asked "And who's the girl?" Juan was about to respond when Brock interrupted him; "You know who it is you tally wacker, its some random chick that wants his d-d-dick" he purposely stuttered as he put his curved hand in front of his face. Juan began to turn slightly red at the comment, but his thoughts were quickly shifted on what was going to happen next. He stood up and looked up into the blue night sky.

As he kept thinking, the crew started chatting with one and another in the cool night, careless about the situation that occurred minutes ago. The girl still sat there in the group, staring at them converse, yet not understanding a word. She saw them grin and point fingers at each other once in awhile, but she felt there was a happy and peaceful aura among them. She wanted to ask who they were and where they came from, but she knew very little English, almost nothing. She heard some before in World War II documentaries, but that was it; she never thought she would need to learn it. As she sat there pondering on what to say, she looked at the B-17 in the distance again. She'd seen them in documentaries and pictures before, but never in person. "Bee- Sheventeen" she said as she kept looking; suddenly it went quiet and all ten guys looked at her immediately. She then realized her tremendous mistake and slowly looked towards the group, only to be received by wide eyes all staring at her in every direction. Her heart raced as she stared back, darting her eyes side to side trying to avoid their gaze. "What did she say?" asked Doc, his glasses reflecting the bright moon. "Hey James, you're Japanese, what did she say?" asked Tony as he turned to the Asian boy who was standing next to him. "I'm Vietnamese you fuck" replied James in an annoyed tone. " I don't know what she said" he added. "Same difference" replied Tony with a chuckle. Juan then kneeled in front of her, knowing she wouldn't understand him, but he thought trying again, but making himself sound more clearer might break the language barrier, if only by a little. He looked at her with a caring look and slowly asked "What-is-your-name?" She looked back with the same confused look. "You're-name" he repeated as they both looked at each other. "My name is Juan" he then said as he pointed at himself. Joe started to snicker along with some of the crew. The girl was confused on what he was trying to say, but she noticed him point at himself and say the same thing; 'Juan'. She then realized that was his name; 'why else would he say the same thing over and over while pointing at himself' she thought. She then slowly opened her mouth and softly spoke in her best English "Rikko, but also call Erwin."

Juan smiled as he repeated her name "Rikko, that's a cool name"; the crew stood there astonished at what they just witnessed. "Not so stupid now huh you dicks" Juan said as he looked back at them. He stood up and placed out his hand so Erwin could grab it. She looked at his hand and then at him. She saw he softly smiled at her, a smile full of innocence, a smile that would only be encountered only a few times in life. She hesitated for a second as she looked back at his hand, but then she felt reassured who was giving it out. Erwin grabbed Juan's hand and pulled herself up and stood in front of him. "Hey Tony, you got a light?" softly asked Joe as he pulled out his last cigarette, not wanting to ruin the moment. Juan then turned around towards his crew and joined them as he pulled them closer for a group discussion. A bright orange glow emanated from Tony's cupped hands as Joe leaned down and lit his smoke, illuminating his features of his tired face. Erwin studied the group more closely and noticed that all but one wore tan shirts along with bright yellow Mae life vests and white harnesses strapped on their bodies. She also noticed they all had a weary tired look upon them, but they manage to muster smiles and laugh. She wondered what was that look, and what they've seen and done to get that look. As she kept thinking, she finally realized where she has seen it before, the documentaries. She saw that look, many times before in black and white footage of pilots after coming back from raids or battles. She then wondered how these young men got these faces, but then realized all she was doing was getting more questions than answers.

"So what do we do now Skip?" asked Brock; his brown face expressing caution. "First, we got to find the people who are in charge of this school carrier and explain them our situation. I doubt they will be happy to see we fucked up their carrier" responded Juan as he looked at every person that was in front of him, all staring at him without blinking. "After that, we'll see if they'll let us grab our belongings that are still in there and hopefully give us shelter for the time being or send us straight on our way home." he added with a quick smile and a clap of his hands. Suddenly, sirens blared all around them and red lights flashed from the trees as yelling mixed in with the chaos. "Oh FUCK ITS THE COPS!" yelled Tony as he was about to sprint away from the group. "Hold your position Tony, otherwise they might shoot us!" yelled Joe as he waved his hands so everybody wouldn't move. "Where would we run off to? Its a ship, there is no escape Tony!" added Juan. Tony's eyes showed panic, but he stayed, shaking in anxiety and fear. The noise was unbearable as dark figures started running towards the group in the bright show of lights that painted the field in shades of flickering red. Juan's heart raced, but he kept his cool and didn't move although his eyes darted in every direction. Maybe it was the moment, or past experience with cops that riled everybody, but one thing was certain; nobody expected police involvement at all. Juan motioned for everybody to get on their knees and put their hands on their heads. Everybody looked at him, and they followed without hesitation. They knew it was the only thing to do at the movement. As the police yelled in Japanese, Juan noticed that some where waving their hands at Erwin, motioning to her to get away from the weary group of teens. She looked at them and at the police, yelling back at them in their tongue and pointing towards Juan. "Fuck Juan, I think she's accusing you of rape" nervously chuckled Joe. Juan looked at Joe and slightly grinned at the joke. He felt a bit of pressure go away, but it quickly returned. "Do you think they'll arrest us and put us in jail?" asked Joe in a worried tone. Juan looked at him, and then looked at the B-17 in the distance. " I don't think so, we didn't do anything wrong. We just landed here so we wouldn't die out in the ocean. I think that's a good excuse for causing property damage right?" said Juan as he looked back at Joe. Joe looked at Juan with a look of confusion and asked " And if they don't see it that way?" Juan took in Joe's question and thought about it for a few moments. He then looked towards the police that were closing in on their location and with a confident grin he turned towards Joe and said " I think we'll be alright, trust me Joe, we won't be going to Japanese Jail".


	4. Chapter 4

(I know you guys want longer chapters, and I will do it, but I had to do this because I couldn't let this opportunity pass, and if you watch always sunny, you might see what I mean by the last lines in chapter 3, so I hope you'll enjoy my progress)

Chapter 4

"The gang goes to Japanese Jail"

"Not going to jail huh?" sarcastically asked Joe as he looked at Juan. "Don't give me that tone man, I guessed wrong." snapped Juan. As they both sat side by side on the cold concrete, their backs against the wall, Juan began to realize something. "You know Joe, this place must not have a lot of crime". he said as he kept staring forward. "How so" replied Joe in a curious tone. "Well, there is one station and only one cell, and I'm still quite surprised how they managed to fit all of us in here." slowly said Juan as he looked around the somewhat spacious jail cell where all ten boys were either sitting or standing around. "It is quite decent in my opinion, but granted I never went to jail, I couldn't tell". said Joe as he looked around. "I know two people who've been in jail" commented Juan. "Hey brock, how is this place, compared to the jails back home?" he added as he looked at Brock, who was sitting in front of them. "Its alright I guess" Brock replied bluntly. Juan knew that Brock was a Juvenile delinquent and that he chose to join the Aviation club than be in prison, but he didn't know why he became a delinquent. He was about to open his mouth to ask Brock, but he slowly closed it as he thought it would only make the situation worse. "Why Skip, why would they put us in here?" exclaimed a crewmember as he kept pacing back and fourth in small lines. He was a slim fellow, with bright blonde hair and crystal blue eyes that showed anguish. The feeling inside the cell quickly turned into anxiety and anger as everybody began to ask themselves that very question. "Its alright Chris, don't worry about it, we'll soon be out of here; just a little misunderstanding that's all". said Juan in his most calmest voice. "Don't worry about? Sir we didn't do anything wrong?" quickly responded Chris in an annoyed tone. "These fucks are just going to leave us here to die" said someone; "yeah, why don't we just break out and take over the ship?' added another. Suddenly the cell erupted into verbal chaos as the boys started saying ridiculous things and hateful words towards each other and towards their captors. Juan and Joe sat there in the mess, listening to every single word being said. Juan's temper was being pushed to its limits as the minutes slowly passed as he kept listening to what he considered mindless garbage. "We should have ditched in the ocean than land on this piece of shit!" exclaimed someone; at that very moment, Juan felt every muscle in his body twitch as he stood up in one movement. His eyes glowered in anger as he yelled at the top of his voice. "WOULD ALL OF YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP!" The room quickly fell silent as every eye looked at him in shock. Without loosing his angered tone, he continued his speech; "LOOK AT YOU, WHY ARE YOU SAYING THIS SHIT!?" He looked around at his crew, who all kept starring at him; his tone slowly turned into one of sadness and confusion as he kept going. "Why, why say that? Only a few hours ago we were staring death in its face." Juan began to notice some the guys began to hang their heads in shame, their shadows covering the floor. "If we ditched out there, not all of us would have made it out. Some of us would have drowned in that heartless sea, our bodies sinking with the remains of the aircraft. Not only that, the ones who would have survived at first would've had to endure the brutal elements as they burned and dehydrated on the ocean's surface, eventually dying painfully if rescue didn't arrive." said Juan as he looked at the bars of the cell. "I can't believe you guys, 11 games and all of you start bitching about being alive; I'd imagine a lot of our dead schoolmates would have loved to be in our situation, than dying in the GOD DAMN SKY!" Most of the crew started sobbing, remembering the events he was preaching about, what they saw and heard over the chats on the radio.

"We are lucky to be here right now, and I'm still thanking god that we are alive, instead of dying out there where we will never be seen again!" finally finished Juan as he sat down with a thud. There was a somber feeling that hung around the brightly lit cell as everybody sat there silently, letting Juan's words seep into their minds. Time seemed to crawl as everybody kept thinking, letting emotions over take them. Juan felt miserable at what he just did, to the point where he felt he wanted to end his life there in the cell. He never yelled at his crew before in anger, and he felt the effects of it quickly overrunning his thoughts with a strong feeling of guilt. He couldn't bare to turn around to face his shattered crew. His mind raced with different thoughts on what to say to them, all the while he felt that their eyes were piercing him. He began to think about how worthless he was, delving deeper into a pit of despair, of darkness and depression; "We're sorry skip, we didn't mean to say that" said a sad voice suddenly. Juan slowly turned around and looked at his men who all were looking back at him with eyes of empathy. Juan looked back at them with eyes of that of a broken man, and slowly apologized in his most heartfelt tone "No, I'm sorry, I, I shouldn't have snapped at you guys. It wasn't right releasing my anger towards you; its been a long day for us, but that doesn't give me any excuse to do that. I'm no fucking leader, I'm an ugly pathetic piece of shit". Again, silence took over the cell as the boys looked at their captain, who was sitting in a fetus position with his head back into his arms. His mind was scanning multiple thoughts, one in particular. "No you're not Juan, you are an excellent leader and a role model for all of us. We all know times will be tough, and you lead us out of them before multiple times." suddenly said Joe as he stood up and walked towards Juan. He stopped behind him and slightly kneeled and placed his hand on his shoulder. Juan looked up and turned his head over his shoulder; and was met back by the smiles of all his crew. "I'm so lucky to have these guys as my crew" Juan thought as he slowly smiled.

"What about the boys from the accident, were are they?" asked Erwin as she was sitting in the back of a police car. "Don't worry about it" quickly replied the officer who was driving, his eyes hidden by his cap. She sat there as she looked out the window of the moving car; lights passing by over and over as houses went by. She kept thinking about the situation that occurred only an hour ago, though it felt like it happened only a few minutes ago. The same question came in her mind over and over throughout the ride; "Who were they and where did they come from?" She could not find the answer no matter how hard she tried, but she was hoping that it will come in the morning when everything had cleared out. The car suddenly turned right on a road she recognized by memory, as if it had been carved into her brain after many walks. "Would you like some music young lady?" suddenly asked the officer, interrupting Erwin's train of thought. She took a minute to respond, but when she finally made her mind she replied in a sleepy, almost blunt tone "No thank you, we are almost to my residence". Her eyelids seemed to gain weight as she tried hard to keep her eyes open, but they were slowly falling as the car slowly stopped. Her head slightly moved forward as she opened her eyes wide as the police officer said in a proud tone "Well ma'am, here we are. The address you told me where you lived". Erwin looked out the window to see a house with no lights on. A single tall light post illuminated the entrance with a bright white beam that blurred into the concrete. "Thank you for taking me home sir" replied Erwin in a respectful manner, though her voice showed hints of sleep. She opened the car door and closed it as she began to walk towards her house. The car slowly drove off, leaving behind the silence of the neighborhood as it disappeared into the night. Erwin stood silently as she then looked up into the night sky. A thought quickly shot through her mind as she looked back at the house; "Damn, the snacks, I dropped the snacks". She then gave a slight cocky smile as she started walking to the house. "She's probably asleep" thought Erwin, "she'll probably forget about food until the morning" she kept thinking. She unlocked the door with her key and slowly opened it, hoping not to make any noise. She slowly took off her boots and placed them next to other shoes that were along the hallway. As she slowly inched forward to her room, she passed by the living room and saw in the dark a girl who was outstretched on the sofa, her arms and legs pointing in every direction. "I knew it" she silently whispered as she continued. Suddenly, she stepped on a floorboard that produced a loud creak that echoed throughout the house. Erwin stood in place, without moving a muscle as she turned her head towards the living room; her eyes staring straight at the sleeping girl who was only feet away. The girl slowly started to move as Erwin held her breath, waiting for the inevitable. The girl then shifted her body and went back to sleep, not noticing the noise. Erwin breathed a sigh of relief as she slowly started walking again. "That was too damn close, last thing I want is Ceaser whining about her snacks." she thought as she slowly opened the door to her room. She then took off her hat and placed it on a shelf that was covered with books and then slowly laid on her bed and closed her eyes.

Crickets chirped constantly on and off as Juan tried to sleep. The lights within the cell were off, but a soft glow emanating from the window covered the room, showing shadows that graced the floor and walls. Juan slowly twisted and turned as he tried to get into a comfortable position to sleep. He finally gave up trying to rest and slowly leaned back against the wall. As he sat there in the darkness, he began to over examine every small detail within the cell. After a while, his mind drifted away to various thoughts that ranged from the games, to TV shows and girls he wanted to be with as time painfully crawled by. He looked at Joe and the rest of the crew as they slept in the dark; " They were pretty tired huh" he thought. "Then again, today was pretty fucking stressful" he added. As he kept thinking, he tried to remember every important event and occasion in his life, playing back the memories over and over again and thinking how they could have played out differently. He stared forward, unmoving and unblinking, as if he was trying to see into the fabric of time itself. The more he thought, the more he began to hate them and himself. "You're a waste of life huh?" he asked himself under his breath. He looked down toward his shoes and kept thinking; "You're pathetic, just admit it already, they all know. What purpose do you even bring in life anyways? All you do is bitch and cry when things get tough; you're nothing but a nuisance to everybody around you. Now you know why girls don't want you at all, because you're a pussy ass bitch who can barely handle things an actual man can do in his damn sleep. You make things worse when you try to fix them because you are fucking stupid." Juan sat there, motionless in the dark. "Who even loves or cares about you anyways?" he suddenly asked himself. Everything remained the same as Juan sat there, his mind in chaos after what had just been asked. Half of his face was illuminated by the moon's glow, while the other was covered in a shadow of darkness, his eyes shining brightly in the jail cell. After what seemed like hours, he slowly lifted his head towards the ceiling and softly chuckled when he answered the question.

The bright yellow sun slowly rose above the violet ocean that reflected its' magnificent rays as the sky was painted in hues of orange and pink. Clouds that were scattered about were cascaded in with colors of light purple and salmon. Birds started chirping throughout the ship, breaking the monotony that was the night only a few hours ago. A loud dull beeping noise kept ringing in the background as Erwin slowly started shifting around. Her mind still whisked away in dreams of herself and Roman generals leading their armies in grand and glorious battles. As she was running into battle, her legion behind her, she noticed that the loud beeping noise got stronger and stronger. As she looked up into the cloudy sky, she saw a b-17 engulfed in flames coming out of the overcast as it fell to earth; the beeping getting faster and stronger as the bomber got closer to the ground. When it finally smashed into the ground, the beeping stopped and silence covered the land and a bright, large white light blinded her as she covered her eyes. A loud explosion quickly followed roaring throughout the land. She moved her hand over her eyes only to see a huge mushroom cloud growing faster and faster in front of her. A wave of debris ridden wind covered the horizon as it destroyed everything in its path. Erwin was unable to move as the wave got closer and closer; when she saw it only meters away, she screamed with all her might as the wave hit her. She quickly opened her eyes and took a deep breath as she slowly sat up. As she started rubbing her eyes, she looked at herself and noticed she didn't change out of her clothes. The beeping continued on as she looked over towards her alarm clock which on it read '7:10'. She lazily got on her hands and knees as she crawled over to the clock, smacking the off button with a thud when she was in arm's length distance. Erwin quickly sat on her knees as she kept rubbing her eyes, trying to remember fragments of her dream. Suddenly, she stopped rubbing and slowly moved her fists away from her eyes when one part stuck out the most, and her thoughts quickly shifted to the incident. She didn't know if the whole thing as a dream she concocted in a late night daze, or if it actually occurred; it seemed surreal. As she stood up, her door was slid open and a dark haired girl with a red scarf looked at her with a glare of annoyance. " Morning Caesar" Erwin said, "you're up early" she added, much to the girl's discontent. "What happened to you last night?" blurted out Caesar, "I was waiting all night for you to bring my snacks". Erwin glanced at her while she was grabbing clothes and a towel. "Did you go to a party and forget about your objective? Or did you buy them and throw them away to spite me?" she remarked. Erwin frowned as she started walking towards Caesar. "Its...its been an interesting and long night" she replied in an unsure tone. Caesar stepped aside as Erwin walked by her, her eyes half closed holding onto her garments. " As Erwin was walking away, she looked back towards Caesar and said in a cheeky manner" Get yourself something to eat, you're always crabby when you're on an empty stomach".

Steam clouds floated within the shower as Erwin sat on a wooden stool alone thinking about the incident that only occurred a few hours ago, yet felt like it happened days ago. In her mind she tried to think of different scenarios on how a four engine bomber showed up out of nowhere and crash land on the school ship. Out of all the possible ideas she came up with, hardly none made any sense. "What if they were part of a movie that was being filmed?" she finally thought; "it has to be, there can not be any other explanation". As she was beginning to be satisfied with her conclusion, she quickly remembered that there was no war movies coming out soon that involved air combat, nor that filming would be that far away from land. He smile quickly turned into a frown as she put her head on her arm, in the classic position of the thinker. "Maybe it was just a complicated dream after all" she softly said to herself. At that moment, there was a loud bang from the door and a voice yelled at Erwin " Hey Erwin, hurry it up already, I've been waiting out her for 30 minutes already!" "Alright, don't get your panties in a damn twist Saemonza, ill be out in a bit" Erwin quickly replied. "Just a dream" she repeated as she began to rinse her herself down.

"Hey Erwin, you hungry?" asked a girl with glasses and messy black hair as she was cooking. " no thanks, ill just get a drink" replied Erwin as she was drying her hair. She grabbed a cup and went to the fridge and grabbed a carton of orange juice. As she was pouring herself a cup, she decided to ask something to her friends so her mind could be truly at ease. "Did you guys hear anything last night, like a crash or a loud roar of sorts?" she suddenly asked out of the blue. The girls stopped and all stared at her with blank expressions on all their faces. "No, I didn't hear anything" replied Caesar; "neither did we" replied Saemonza and Oryou. The girls kept staring at Erwin as she stood still, looking back at them. "Why? did you hear something last night?' asked Caesar, her eyes not moving away from Erwin. "I did, or I think I did, I don't know, I guess it was the automotive club racing and drifting down the streets again last night." quickly replied Erwin in an unsure tone; "What day is it today anyway" she added. Caesar slowly lowered her gaze towards her food, "Saturday" she replied bluntly. There was an awkward silence throughout the room that was a kitchen and living room mixed together as one. Erwin started to drink from the cup as the girls returned to what they had been originally doing, the strange feeling still within the room. As she finished, there were loud knocks in quick cession emanating from the door. "Ill get it" quickly said Oryou as she fumbled with her glasses. The rest of the girls slowly moved towards the hallway behind her as she opened the door. As Oryou opened the door, a girl with brown hair with an expression of joyous curiosity stood in front of her. "Hello Yukari, what brings you over here?" asked Erwin as she saw who it was. The girl quickly barged in and exclaimed in a curious tone "There's something that crashed last night on our ship!" Erwin's face quickly changed as her mind quickly thought of the incident. "It was real" she silently said to herself as she looked down. "Come on, what are you guys waiting for? Don't you want to check it out?" added Yukari as she couldn't keep in the excitement. "Sure, we'll go, but how do you know something crashed on our ship last night" asked Caesar as she walked over to put on her shoes. "I over heard the police talking about quarantining a crash site in the forest. replied Yukari proudly. "Quarantining?" interrupted Oryou in a confused and perplexed tone. "yeah, it could be a space craft with ugly aliens from another dimension!" exclaimed Yukari. "Ill go and tell the rest of the group to go to the crash site" she said as she started to run from the house. "Ill see you guys there!" Yukari yelled as she waved back towards the group of girls. Caesar sat down and started to tie her shoes as she looked up towards the girls "Well, looks like today will be interesting". Erwin stared forward as her mind drifted away. "its not an alien craft" she slowly said; the girls all looked at her quickly with faces of confusion and surprise. "what do you mean? You already saw what crashed in the forest?" suddenly asked Saemonza, her red hair cascading from her head. "Yeah" replied Erwin confidently, "Its more interesting than aliens, that I can tell you for sure". All the girls looked at each other and then quickly shifted their gazes back at her. Erwin gave a cocky smile as she sat down next to Caesar and started to put on her khaki sandals that had a small Afrika corps logo on them. As she finished, she looked at them and quirkily asked "well, what are you guys waiting for? Don't you want to check it out?"


	5. Chapter 5

(I would like to apologize to my followers and people who are trying to keep up reading. I haven't been able to do much since I have a huge mess outside of this story. From my job that is physically demanding to some art commissions I'm doing. In short, I will try harder and I'm very humble to have you guys following my story)

Wind flew through Erwin's hair as she stood, her arms outstretched on the hatches of her position as a constant loud rumble billowed throughout the streets as the grey StuG drove by. She looked up and viewed the vast sky that was above her, as if it was a painting with clouds lazily brushed on, almost blending into the early morning blue sky. "you're sure not saying much today Erwin" commented Caesar who was beside her, " I knew you were hiding something from us, I knew it from the start" she added. Erwin listened to the words as they entered one ear and exited the other, somewhat disregarded them as she still looked up, her mind in a vivid daydream where she flew free between the clouds in a TA-152, twisting and rolling with vapor trails drawing lines in the sky. Caesar turned slightly annoyed when she noticed that Erwin wasn't paying her no attention. Erwin then broke from her lovely trance and brought her head down to level and looked forward to the road as houses went by one after the other. "I'm curious, have you ever wondered how it would be like to fly? Suddenly asked Erwin as she turned her gaze towards Caesar; "I've been in passenger planes before when I went with my family on vacation." answered Cesar in a confused tone. "No, like flying by yourself in an unpressured fighter, going where ever you want to go." said Erwin as her eyes glanced at the sky. "What's going on Erwin? You've never acted like this before; you seem like you're trying to imagine yourself in a dream, honestly Erwin you're beginning to worry me." Said Caesar in a nervous tone. 'What did you see last night, was it that interesting or strange'? thought Caesar as she looked forward, her dark red scarf gently rustling around her neck. As Caesar was thinking in her head what might have made Erwin change so quickly, the forest on the edge of town began to loom ahead; its bright green trees swaying back and forth to the music of the breeze. A smug look appeared on Erwin's face as the StuG finally stopped in front of a hill that had trees scattered about. "Where to now?" asked Oryou as she popped her head out of a hatch. Erwin grabbed her German officer cap and put it on and with a slight hand motion her finger pointed right and with words of passion yelled "Panzer Vor!"

Juan slowly opened his weary eyes as he began to look around him; bright morning yellow rays of light came from the window of the cell, bringing with it a new mood in the atmosphere. "Morning skip" said Joe who was sitting in the middle of the cell with James and Brock. Juan's mind and heart quickly raced for a second when he tried to remember where he was at when he looked towards the black bars on one side of the cell. "That's right" said Juan to himself "I'm in jail" he added as he started to rub his eyes which were slightly bloodshot. He looked around him and saw his crew, and to his surprise they all had expressions of content and amusement, yet there still lingered a feeling of uncertainty mixed within them. Juan took off his tan crush cap; his long black hair slightly coming down his face as he looked at the dull golden eagle in the center of the cap, slightly gleaming. As he kept staring at it, his mind went to the events of the night before and the girl he stumbled upon; "Wonder if I scared her" he thought to himself. He smiled as he slowly stood up and walked over to the small group in the middle of the cell.

"How much further Erwin?" asked Oryou as she kept driving through a path that was surrounded by endless trees on both sides. "A bit further and we'll see it" quickly replied Erwin as she stood, arms across her chest with a smug smile on her face. As they kept moving forward, Erwin looked and saw in the distance police cars and yellow tape blocking the path. Caesar looked at Erwin with a face of uncertainty as they pressed on. "Hold up!" yelled an officer as they finally reached the blockade; the StuG abruptly stopped and rocked forward as dust flew everywhere. "Where are you girls going? This area is off limits to visitors" said the officer with a displeased tone. Caesar stuttered "Oh, we..we are...are here to.." "Look at the object that crashed last night for a school report" immediately interrupted Erwin as she nervously giggled. "School report?" repeated the officer in a confused tone, his eyes focusing on the girls. "Y..yeah, a school report, is that a problem officer?" asked Erwin in her most proud tone, hiding the fact that she had no clue on how to proceed. "Its no problem, but today is Saturday, and if you girls have Saturday school, why aren't you in your uniforms?" Erwin gulped as she looked at her crew, and then slowly at herself and saw that they all were wearing regular clothes, not their school uniforms. Erwin's eyes widened as she looked back at the officer, trying to come up with another bluff to make the last one make sense. " As Erwin was about to speak, Caesar spontaneously blurted out, "Extra credit!" The officer then looked at Caesar and put his arms across his chest and with a face of annoyed confusion repeated "Extra Credit?" Erwin slowly turned her gaze towards Caesar; "yes sir, we are from the history club, and they said that if we do a report on current events we will get extra credit in our history class; and since this crash is a current event, we decided to write about it". nervously said Caesar, trying her hardest to hide the stuttering. The officer took a minute and looked at all the girls; "then your choice of clothing then?" asked the officer his view turned towards Erwin. Her heart was racing as pressure began to overtake her and without thinking she blurted out the first thing that came to her mind. "A friend told us about it, and uh, well, we decided we want to get some extra credits too, so we rushed over here to be the first to see the crash site and uh turn it into an essay" The officer was staring down Erwin as she put on a smile trying to shake away the officer's doubts. There was a strange period of silence as both parties stared at each other, each trying to figure out what the other will say. Finally, the officer broke his gaze and was about to speak when another officer came up to him. "Sir, we've checked all around and only found two machine guns on the top turret, which seem like they aren't going anywhere, so they wont be a threat. Also we've checked the personal belongings and found nothing of danger, so the site is clear of any danger, besides the aircraft itself, which is leaning in a hazardous position." reported the officer in a professional tone. After some thought, the officer that was talking to the girls motioned them to go forward as he said. "Alright, you girls can go through, but don't go too close to the wreck, its still dangerous". "Alright, thank you very much sir" replied Erwin; "forward!" she added as the StuG moved forward slowly, clanking and screeching as it went by.

The girls all took a sigh of relief as they continued on their path. "Uh, Erwin, did that officer say machines guns on the top turret?" suddenly asked Caesar as she looked at Erwin. Erwin gave a cocky smile as she looked back at Caesar, who had a face of curiosity mixed with uneasiness. "What is it that crashed last night" cautiously asked Caesar as she kept looking at Erwin. Erwin was silent for a moment, then her eyes widened and sparkled and her mouth opened with awe as she slowly said "That". The StuG came out into a large clearing, and in the middle rested the massive bomber with different blotches of olive green paint and a bright white triangle with a bold black 'C' on the tail. The StuG suddenly stopped as all four girls stared at the B-17 wide eyed in pure awe and excitement. "It looks so beautiful" silently commented Caesar as her sight stared directly at the wreck. "Erwin, why didn't you tell us it was a B-17?" asked Saemonza as she looked at Erwin. "Because I knew you girls wouldn't believe me, plus I wanted to make it a surprise" answered Erwin as she kept looking forward. Erwin looked at the bomber, and then looked at dirt trails that were littered with metal debris created when the bomber slid across the ground. "She didn't get the prettiest of landings, but whoever was flying that knew what they were doing" interrupted Caesar as she looked at the crash site.

Juan's eyes squinted as he looked at Joe, then towards Brock. His eyes then glanced at every member of his crew, only to have the same glares shot back at him. Juan's eyes then focused on Doc, who sat deathly still, his eyes hidden behind his glasses which reflected the sun's light. There was a suspenseful and dark feeling within the cell as all eyes focused on Doc, all waiting for him to say something they've been wanting to hear for some time. Doc bit his lip as he looked down, then with a slight movement of his hand he looked back up towards everybody and confidently said " three aces". There was a short pause between the group as they all looked at their hands, their eyes scanning on the corners of their cards. "You ballsy motherfucker" said Tony as he smiled; his eyes staring down Doc. Doc motioned him to flip over the cards that were in the middle of the group, "call it then bitch" Doc said with a smug look. "He might be telling the truth" said Chuck as he looked at Tony, "He sounded pretty confident" he added as he glanced towards Doc. "So did my muther when she said she was able to bail me out, either way, he's lying" said Tony as he stared at the cards in the floor. He then slowly reached for the cards, and he looked at Doc and said very slowly with a cocky tone "Bull...Shit". Everybody stared at the cards that were beneath Tony's hand, waiting to see the answer that they all wondered. "See boys, even with god on your side you cant win against...FUCK!" Tony suddenly yelled as he flipped the cards and saw three aces; everybody laughed as Tony picked up the cards as he mumbled. "Why did you call it out Tony?" asked Chuck as he laughed. "cause I had this sonovabicth" quickly replied Tony as he showed an ace in his hand. "What was it you said about god being on my side and not winning?" chuckled Doc as he stood up; everybody focused at him with looks of confusion. "What? I won see" Doc calmly spoke as he showed his hands to everyone who were sitting in a circle. There was a brief silence as everybody looked at each other, and then back at Doc."Well boys I'm fucking killing myself" exclaimed Brock jokingly as he pulled off his belt as everyone laughed and chuckled. Juan looked around him and saw his crew, smiling and laughing their stress away; 'We've never been this joyous for some time, wonder how long they are going to keep us here?' he asked himself as he smiled.

As the StuG moved closer to the bomber, Erwin and the rest of the girls saw the debris of wreckage that was left in its wake. Police officers walked about examining the wreck and chatting with each other and taking photos. "Damn" softly said Erwin as the StuG passed a large pile of charred black metal that was dug into the ground. "Must be an engine" said Saemonza as she pointed towards the pile, "There's the propeller blades" she added as they all looked at the pile again, seeing the blades as they were bent around the busted engine cowling. "Did you see the plane crash?" suddenly asked Caesar as Erwin turned her attention to her. Erwin took a minute to take the question in, and quickly responded "No, I came to the site after the crash, so I didn't see it happen, but I saw the crew." Caesar's eyes suddenly sparkled wide open as she quickly bombarded Erwin with questions that had a tone of curiosity " You saw the crew? who were they? where do they come from? what did they look like?". Erwin stared blankly as she tried to pick one of the many questions to answer first. As she was going to speak, she looked behind Caesar and her eyes widened in astonishment at a view she never thought would ever happen. "What the hell?" she said as she stared at a large portion of the bomber's wing jammed into a tree that was uprooted from the impact. All the other girls quickly gazed upon it as their minds went into a frenzy of thoughts trying to comprehend what they are viewing. A gaggle of police officers stood around the wing staring at it and taking photos of the strange spectacle that was before them. The girls all quickly turned their heads forward as the StuG stopped; "there she is" commented Erwin as they all stared unblinking towards the object they came to see. The morning sun shone brightly casting a yellow glow over the site, revealing details that weren't visible the night before. Bullet holes were riddled throughout the aircraft, their bright aluminum edges shining clearly contrasting the dark olive drab paint. All four girls stood on top of their StuG and stared forward, examining every angle and panel of the aircraft in silence, their eyes darting quickly . "Its, so big" commented Oryou with a blissful tone; "She sure is, and I bet she seen more action than this girl here" addressed Erwin as she looked at the different shaded panels. She then glanced down at the sunbaked grey paint of the StuG, slightly smiling remembering the battles they put the poor thing through. Her mind quickly shifted as she tried to imagine the things the b-17 went through and still make it through.

Silence enveloped the clearing as wind blew through the trees, making the leaves shake in unison as they sang their tune to deaf ears. Erwin jumped off the tank destroyer, landing with a slight thud as she began to walk to the bomber. "Oh My Goodness!" suddenly yelled a surprised voice that made every head turn towards the direction where it emanated; Erwin squinted her eyes and saw a girl with short puffy brown hair standing on top of a panzer IV at the edge of the forest. "I thought she only had a deep love for tanks" thought Erwin as the Panzer rolled down the hill, quickly followed by a troop of different tanks ranging in shapes and sizes. "Doesn't it look gorgeous?" exclaimed Erwin as the Panzer pulled up next to the parked StuG. "It sure does!" replied Yukari as she quickly climbed down from the panzer, her puffy brown hair covering her face. "I've never seen one this close before" she added as she walked up to Erwin. They both looked towards the bomber, which was quickly being surrounded by girls who were all staring at it with curiosity and wonder. "I thought you only loved tanks Heinz" chuckled Erwin as she turned her attention towards Yukari. "I do, but I do have some considerable knowledge of World war II era aircraft too, though I thought it was pointless since I concluded I would never see one in person" quickly responded the bright eyed girl. "Well, its not pointless anymore then" said Erwin as she crossed her arms; "guess not" giggled Yukari.

Yukari slowly started walking forward, her heart starting to race as he mind envisioned what it would be like in such a large aircraft. "Where are you going?" suddenly asked Erwin as she glanced at Yukari with a confused look. "I'm going to look inside" she replied with a smile; Erwin's face quickly changed to a look of pure shock at the response. "I don't think that's a good idea" suddenly said a soft voice, both girls slowly turned and saw a girl with an innocent face and short brown hair. "Its going to be okay Miho, its not that dangerous" responded Yukari with confident tone. After some thought, Miho looked at her friend's eyes and saw a person who wanted to see what was lying beyond them, a person full of hope and joy. She knew Yukari was more than able to handle herself, as she's proven multiple times in the past. "Alright, I trust you won't get into much trouble Yukari" softly said Miho with a gentle smile. Yukari jumped with happiness as she motioned her hand at Miho. Miho looked at the gesture, but politely declined the invitation. She then looked towards Erwin and said "come on Erwin, let go check her out, I know you want to" Erwin looked blankly at Yukari as she got closer and grabbed her hand and pulled. "Alright, alright I'm going then" she hastily said as he was fixing her hat. As they walked towards the looming giant, Erwin looked at the tail again focusing on the identification of the aircraft. " A white triangle with a C, wonder what squadron it could be from" addressed Yukari as she glanced at the tail. "It's from the European Theatre of combat" Erwin replied. "Most bomber units operating in the Pacific Theatre used different patterns to distinguish each bomber squadron or group. Bombers in Europe used white shapes, like a square or triangle with a different letter inside to distinguish from each other, until later in the war where different colors where added to each group. Along with that, this bomber has letters on the sides of the fuselage, which pacific bombers only used numbers." she added. Yukari gazed upon the tail as they got closer to the aircraft, her eyes glistening in the clear day. "I'm guessing it's either a 100th or 303rd B-17, but I'm still not sure" finished Erwin as the reached the right wing, which was only a few inches off the ground. Erwin climbed and felt the aluminum sheet slightly bend underneath her feet. Yukari stood in front of her and slightly kneeled with her two hands outstretched in a cupped position. Erwin's heart raced and she breathed slightly faster, knowing that she was only moments away from seeing something brand new. She put a foot on Yukari's hands, her sandal slightly bending as her foot tried to find a good position to launch herself up. With a slight and quick movement, she put her right hand on Yukari's shoulder and leaped onto the top of the radio compartment. She then kneeled and reached for Yukari's outstretched hand, grabbing and using all her might to pull her friend up. They both stood on top of the fuselage, as everyone looked at them with surprise written all over their faces. "Lets check it out then" said Yukari with excitement; Erwin nodded as the both climbed down into the interior of the B-17.

As Erwin planted her feet on the wooden floor, she stepped on a few medium sized cylindrical objects. She quickly lost balance and fell face first on the hard floor with a loud thud that rang throughout the aircraft. "Ow!" she quickly yelled as she turned over, rubbing her forehead. "Erwin, you ok?" quickly asked Yukari, her heart quickly racing as she kneeled over her friend. "yeah, I'm ok I think" half heartily responded Erwin, her attention quickly changing towards a large pile of empty shell casings that were all clustered towards the front of the compartment. The brass shells slightly gleamed as they laid over the green painted aluminum that was scuffed up heavily, showing multiple scratches of the bright metallic aluminum that blended into the shells. Yukari crawled over and picked up one; her eyes quickly scanning it from every angle. "It's a 12.7x99mm, a 50. cal. bullet" She said as she handed the empty shell to Erwin who then slowly started studying it. Yukari stood up as she then focused her eyes towards a large wooden box that was on one of the compartment's walls. She then walked over and touched it, feeling the rough grain of the used wood that was chipped in a few small areas. Erwin then got on her feet as she tossed the casing towards the large pile, making a sharp clank that quickly disappeared. Erwin then glanced over to a bunch of radios that were placed over each other on a side of the compartment. As her eyes surveyed the tight space, she saw the radio operator's table, which was covered with a mess of papers. "This must be the radio compartment of the B-17" softly said Erwin under her breath; she then peered through a door that was next to Yukari. She stared down a large area that had two fairly large windows on each side of the fuselage which was riddled with holes in some areas. As she kept staring, she noticed that both positons lacked their machine guns. She quickly turned her head around and looked at the place where the radio operator's gun would be and saw that the ring didn't have it's armament as well. Erwin quickly turned her attention towards Yukari, but she then quickly saw that her friend was in her own marvelous world ignoring everything that wasn't in her eye view. She then noticed something peculiar that she overlooked at first glance that added a new list of questions that she already had in her mind. As she looked at the painted fuselage walls, she noted that some areas of the fuselage weren't evenly scuffed compared to others. She also saw that those areas had a new coat of paint, as if it were painted to cover something that wasn't removable. As she stood there deep in thought, Yukari came up behind her and glanced over her shoulder to view past her. "there's a lot of shell casings in here, they must have been in some heavy fighting, whoever they were" commented Yukari, startling Erwin who quickly jumped in shock. "I'm sorry I startled you, I'm just so excited to be in here, much more space in here than our tanks, but its not as proteced as them." she immediately followed as Erwin regained her posture. "lets go check out the front of the bomber" Yukari said excitedly; Erwin nodded as they walked towards a door that was smashed down from its hinges. They both focused on the scenario unblinking as they thought what happened. "I haven't seen any parachutes in here, wondered if the crew bailed out before this plane crashed" said Yukari to herself as she carefully climbed over the broken door. Erwin immediately thought of the crew she saw last night; "wonder what happened to them?' she asked herself quietly as she followed Yuakri.


	6. Chapter 6

( I'm sorry if these parts are getting boring, I'm trying to make it as entertaining as I can, but I'm fearing that its not good at all. On a side note, all of Brock's stories about jail, actually happened to one of my friends. he let me use his tales with permission.)

"I'm in Japanese Jail Lord, Japanese jail got me down!" sang a voice that echoed throughout the corridor. Some officers looked at each other in confusion as they tried to understand what were the lyrics of the song that continued on. "I'm in Japanese Jail Lord, those jap balls got me down!" Juan and the rest of the crew chuckled as Erik kept singing in a dull, yet hilarious tone about their conundrum. He stopped as he looked at all of his friends; he smiled as he started once again as all joined in perfect harmony "We're in Japanese prison Lord, We don't belong here our eyes are round!" Everybody cheered as they finished the song and laughed; "you know ever since I saw that on TV, I've always wanted to try it" grinned Erik as he looked around him. " Glad we also joined in too" exclaimed Tony as he sat on the other side of the cell. There suddenly was a moment of silence as everybody grinned, their minds in bliss as they added that moment to the large library of memories. "You know, I thought I'd never say this, but being in jail is actually pretty fun" suddenly said Doc as he ran his hand through his neatly combed hair. "I agree with you Doc" said Rick as he looked at him. "Oh shit, did I ever tell you guys the funny shit when I was in Jail?" swiftly asked Brock with excitement. Everybody quickly stopped as they stared at Brock with wide eyes; "what?" awkwardly asked Brock in response. "Its, its that you never wanted to talk about your experiences in Jail before" replied Juan. Brock looked at him and quickly looked at the ground and softly grinned. "Well, I thought you guys were going to fucking bully me, you didn't give me the most warm reception when I was placed with this crew skip" Brock answered with a slight sarcastic tone. Juan's eyes glanced away when he remembered the event; "I'm sorry Brock, I had a different mindset back then and it affected my outward appearance." he apologized as he looked at Brock. Brock gave a cocky smile after he heard the apology. "Don't worry skip, we all fuck up, believe me, otherwise I wouldn't be able to tell you this" he responded . Everybody all focused on brock as he began; "Alright, since you guys knew I was in jail, I remember that we had a TV and only a single remote to change channels. It was Sunday night and there was a lot of bibles on the table. One of the inmates had gotten hold of some weed, and I'm still wondering how he got it since you know its still illegal in Georgia, let alone having it in Jail. So he suggested to have a "Bible" study and no joke like 20 guys went into the cell with him". "Bullshit" laughed James as he looked at Brock. "I'm not fucking lying" he quickly replied. Brock continued as he laughed "So they broke the remote and used it as a lighter; it was a fucking long bible study until one guy came out. He was so fucking high that he walked out with his bible upside down and he went straight to the showers. He dropped the soap on purpose and opened the curtains and picked it up."

Everybody laughed as hard as they could as they all tried to imagine a stoned inmate who wanted to get raped. Brock laughed the hardest as he relived the events that occurred before him. He continued on as everybody settled down a bit; "Now about the remote, when I entered my cell they had their backs turned towards the door. They were trying to fix the remote that was broke in half because they used it for the lighter, but they had to hide it in someone's mattress when we went to sleep because they weren't able to fix it. After that someone wanted to change the channel, so one guy helped up the skinniest fucking dude pretty high up and he changed the channel manually while the police officer in the tower yelled at them." There was a lively feeling in the cell as everybody chuckled to their friend's tale. " I bet you laughed your ass off Brock" said Joe. "OH I did" replied brock laughing. "There was another time when we were playing cards. We got a bedsheet and put it over the table and made it look fancy. So we were playing there and the guards starting yelling at us to stop and clean it up. So in the end.." he suddenly paused as he chuckled to himself for a moment. "We all flipped over the table and made a huge fucking mess so the guards had to pick it up". he finished as he re-enacted the moment as he moved his arms to flip an imaginary table. he kept chuckling as the rest smiled. "Who did you play with?" immediately asked Chuck as Brock looked at him. He replied in a confident tone "I was playing with a guy who was convicted for battery and some other guy who was convicted for murder". "Really?" responded chuck as his eyes widened with curiosity. "yeah , they were the fucking funniest people I ever met" Brock added as he regained himself. He then quickly grinned as his mind drifted away as he remembered well cherished memories. There was another short period of silence as everyone thought to themselves, about loved ones, good times and their homes. "How long are they going to keep us here skip?" suddenly asked Chris, he tone showing slight distress as his worried eyes pierced Juan. Juan looked at the ground and in his most apathetic voice slowly replied "Hopefully soon, this cell reminds me too much of our bomber". He looked up towards Chris and his crew and gave a cocky half smile that was full of hope.

Suddenly, two police officers appeared at the barred door. One of them spoke and pointed at Juan motioning him to step forward. Juan suddenly felt a huge wave of fear and nervousness as he slowly pointed at himself and silently mouthed "me?" The officer nodded as he ordered the other to open the door. Juan slowly stood up and looked at his crew with a face of chocked up terror. He then suddenly looked at the officer opening the door and a thought of escape quickly shot through his mind as he kept looking at the lock. He turned around and saw that his boys were looking at the officer as well, all having the same thought in their own heads. He noticed that Tony and Joe were slightly leaning, ready to jump in an instant as their eyes focused hard towards the lock. Both guards suddenly looked at what their prisoners were glaring at and immediately moved themselves in a defensive stance, ready for what was about to come. There was a tense feeling in the air as both parties waited for the click of the key, the noise that would release complete and brutal chaos. Juan's eyes darted from the lock to the officers and saw their faces that were filled with terror. The atmosphere got stronger and stronger with the negative aura of nervousness, desperation and anger. Time quickly stopped as Juan looked forward, his mind racing to choose one of two options that would change how the outcome would be. 'Click' suddenly went the key as Tony and Joe suddenly jumped. "STOP!" loudly barked Juan as he stretched out his arms blocking the path of the opening. His heart racing fast as his arms trembled, his fingers twitching as he stood still, his eyes covered by his hair that was flowing out of his cap. Tony and Joe abruptly froze as their eyes quickly shifted to their captain, their faces full of shock. "We don't need to get in anymore trouble, especially assault on police officers.." Juan said in a stern, almost enraged tone. Joe and Tony slowly sat down as they kept looking at Juan who had his back towards his crew; "I'll go with them and see what this is about, until then, don't do anything stupid and keep yourselves busy" ordered Juan as he started to walk forward. He then quickly stopped and added " I'm sure this isn't nothing, don't loose that feeling of happiness guys. Its the only thing that's been keeping us sane this whole damn time". His tone quickly changed to one of sarcasm, but with good intentions mixed in as he finally said "In my absence, think of this as a team building exercise". He then looked back and gave a cocky smile to his crew.

Juan walked out of the cell calmly, his movements now being determined by the officers. They immediately made him put his hands in front of is body as they slapped on a pair of silver handcuffs. As he walked next to them, he glanced and saw that their faces changed to that of people who just saw death in the face and escaped unscathed, a look he was quite familiar with. As he walked throughout he jail, he noticed that there were hardly any officers occupying the vicinity. "damn, this place has to be that fucking good if there is only 6 cops" Juan though to himself. Suddenly, he and his gauds turned left onto the main lobby of the jail. It was fairly large and well lit with plastic chairs all put in a row against one of the walls. A big wooden desk was on the opposite side with a large sign that had Japanese words written in a bold font; he then suddenly looked forward and walked past two glass sliding doors. As he stepped outside, he immediately covered his eyes and growled as they were adjusting to being outdoors in the bright sunlight. An officer placed his hand on his left shoulder and slightly pushed Juan so he would continue walking forward. Juan then quickly blinked as his sight adjusted to being outside; he then quickly looked around him and saw a wall of houses that had electrical and telephone wires on that ran through posts and that crossed everywhere in zig zag. He stood briefly and looked above him and saw the bright late morning sky that had white clouds spread across like if an artist lazily painted them. He closed his eyes and took a deep breathe and smiled. Juan suddenly felt the hand aggressively push him as he broke from his peaceful moment; annoyed, he rapidly commented in a harsh tone "Alright, alright I'm going you prick". As they all walked down the steps, he saw that a black and white police car with writing over the doors awaited them below. Two more officers stood at each end of the four door sedan, their hands crossed in front of them, their eyes hidden below their cap visors. As the trio reached the car, one of the officers opened the rear door and motioned Juan to get in. He slightly bent forward and got inside of the car; as he sat down he was motioned to get in the middle of the seat. He started shuffling to get in the middle as the other door opened and stepped inside another officer. Juan immediately looked at him, his eyes cautiously scanning the police officer that sat next to him. He then felt as if another person was right next to him and glanced at the corner of his eye and saw the officer that opened the door for him sat right next to him a soft thud. 'Fucking great' thought Juan as his face slightly turned bitter 'my balls are getting crushed' he added as he slightly move to a comfortable position.

The other two police officers then got in and started the car. It puffed to life as they closed the doors and put on their seatbelts. Juan looked at the rear view mirror and saw that the driver was looking back at him. His eyes quickly shifted away from Juan as he put the car in gear and started to drive. It was deathly silent in the car as it drove on, its engine silently humming in a constant rhythm. All officers stared forward, unblinking as Juan tried to look out the windows of the car to the scenery that passed by quickly. Row after row of houses passed by, all looking the same to the one before. Signs with different colors and fonts adored the streets with collage of art. The car suddenly stopped at a light as Juan slightly went forward; he looked out each window and saw what was laying before him. There was a small group of girls outside what seemed to Juan to be a corner shop laughing and joking with each other with brightly colored sodas in their hands. As the car waited, a thought shot through Juan's brain like a bullet. He looked at his cuffed hands, then the chain that ran between them. He then looked at the driver that was only feet away from him; his imagination running wild. "Juan, hold up, what the fuck are you thinking you sick cunt" he thought as he snapped himself out of his delusion. Out of nowhere came a loud screeching and rumbling that got closer and closer by the moment. He quickly turned his head and saw a large, dark grey Tiger.P roll by. His eyes widened with shock as his mouth slightly opened with disbelief. He looked at his guards and was astonished that they passed it off like it was a normal thing. The tank slowly turned left and disappeared around the corner as Juan caught a last glimpse of the tank and saw a girl come out of the cupola. The car suddenly moved forward again; Juan turned his head towards the direction where the tank was heading and barely saw the turret of the vehicle. Two girls sat on top of it as it disappeared behind a hill; Juan noticed that in the distance was a forest. The view quickly disappeared behind another wall of houses that flashed by as the car continued. 'they are going to the wreck, looks like that blonde girl couldn't fucking keep a secret' Juan thought to himself, his eyes looking down at his cuffed hands. 'then again, we didn't land with much grace' he smiled. After what seemed like a maze of left and right turns, the car abruptly halted in front of a large brick building with superb parking lot with bushes and small trees riddled about. The four officers simultaneously got out of the car in unison, leaving Juan alone as he marveled at the building. His view was blocked when one of the officers stuck his head in the car and motioned for Juan to get out. As he got out, he got a full view of the building and his stance of it suddenly decreased. "If this is the main office or school, I thought it would be as big as our school back in the states" he said with a taunting tone to one of the officers, who replied with a look of annoyed confusion. He was suddenly pushed by one of one the officers who was behind him, making him to walk forward. He was surrounded by all four police officers who were beside him and behind him, escorting him to the brick building. Juan's heart slightly started to race as nervousness began to crawl up on him, his mind wondering what was waiting for him behind the doors that were coming up quickly. There were small cars of various shapes and colors parked in neat rows, evenly spaced between each other on both sides of the small group as they advanced. Juan held his breath as they entered a fairly large sliding door, anxiously awaiting what would be on the other side.

"Careful Yukari" nervously said Erwin as they slowly walked across the catwalk through the poorly lit bomb bay. She looked down and saw that both the doors and the lower part of the bay were smashed and mangled , wires and tubes bent and sticking out in every direction. "Imagine walking through this at 10'000 feet above the earth on a bomb run" joked Yukari as she easily slid between the bomb racks. " I wouldn't want to be in the shoes of the crew" replied Erwin as she followed. "I wouldn't mind being in one of these, it seems like fun flying in a B-17" happily said Yukari. There was a bright aura that was in front of the pair as they walked past another door, which quickly enveloped them as they closed their eyes. They slowly opened their eyes and saw the cockpit of the fallen beast that laid in tatters. As they slowly went forward, they passed the top turret as it sat motionless. Yukari quickly got in and looked up and saw two large machine guns, a smile ran across her face as she lightly touched one of them. Her heart raced as she ran her finger across the gun, feeling all the bolts and steel. She then placed her hands on the small yolk in the middle and looked through the small gun sight, and her mind quickly drifted away, imagining the twin 50.s firing at an invisible fighter. Erwin looked at her friend, slightly smiling as she saw Yukari enjoying herself. She then turned towards the cockpit of the B-17. She started walked and placed her hand on the co-pilot's seat as she leaned and saw the black instrument panel that had switches, dials and buttons scattered all over. She then slowly sat on the pilot's chair as she kept looking at the instrument panel, which was scratched heavily with chips of paint scratched off. She narrowed her vison and starred at different words that were above each and every dial and switch. "How could those boys fly this thing with all this mess in front of them" she thought as she kept looking. "Oooh" said Yukari as she rushed and sat in the co-pilot's chair. She sat down and starting looking around her with her smile growing ever bigger. "You look perfect there Erwin" she suddenly said "You look like a perfect b- 17 pilot, except for the cap of course" she giggled. Erwin gave a slight chuckle as she kept looking throughout the cockpit. She turned to her left and saw the broken Plexi-glass windows that were shattered, some pieces barley holding on the metal framing while the rest were scattered on the scuffed wooden floor, shining bright as the sun's rays hit them. "The control handles are so thin" commented Yukari as she grabbed the co-pilot's yolk. Erwin looked in front of her and saw the yolk; it was scratched and worn heavily. She looked at all the throttles and levers and saw that most of the words had be worn off, though she couldn't understand the majority of them. "Wonder how they pilots do this? Like knowing where is where" commented Erwin as she grabbed the control yolk. "They must have been training a long time, like civil pilots I'm guessing" said Yukari as she looked out the window and waved as she smiled to some of the girls who were outside. They smiled and waved back. "One thing's for sure, its going to be a pain to repair this bomber. If it takes a few days to repair our tanks after a match, just imagine how long it will take them" she said as she looked at Erwin. "Too damn long" Erwin replied with an astonished tone.

As Juan entered the building, his heart slowly down a little when he looked around and saw a well furnished lobby that was well lit and had a peaceful feel to it. There was a few people about as they went along with their business. There was a dark green rug that had marvelous white designs that covered it sprawled across the tan marble flooring that reflected the lights like a mirror. He looked down at the floor and saw his reflection, a reflection that showed a boy whose has seen too much . He stared at himself briefly and saw how tired his face was; he immediately looked up and tried to forget what he just saw. The group then walked toward the end of the lobby to an elevator that had shiny reflecting metal doors. One of the guards pushed a button and a loud hum began as the elevator came down. Juan's heart rate started to increase again as the hum got louder and louder. He quickly started to look at all directions, his eyes bouncing to every corner of the lobby trying to find something, something to take his mind off the current situation. The hum suddenly stopped and a loud ding echoed through the lobby as the metal doors slowly opened. The group then proceeded inside. Juan turned around as one of the guards pushed a button with a number three and some Japanese writing. He viewed in front of him and saw nothing but the lobby. His eyes then glanced at the officers that were beside and behind him. He gritted his teeth together as the doors slowly closed only a foot in front of him.

After a few moments, the doors suddenly opened into a narrow hallway. The group stepped out and went right down the hallway that had a polished wooden floor with white walls. Door after door passed by Juan as he kept walking, his eyes staring ahead of him unblinking, a nervous expression written across his face. Suddenly, both officers that were beside him stopped abruptly as they pushed Juan to face a large wooden door with a bright brass handle. One of the officers grabbed it and opened it with a single swift movement. Juan's heart felt like it was about to burst out of his chest as the door opened to reveal a lofty room with a large wooden desk at the end of it. Both officers walked in one after the other as Juan was slightly pushed to follow. He kept walking until he reached the center of the room as one officer grabbed his shoulder, making him stop. All four officers suddenly bowed towards a man with a dark suit that was behind the desk, his back turned towards them as he looked out a window. One of the officers suddenly spoke in a deep tone at the man, who then slowly turned his body to face the group. Juan studied his complexion as he spoke to the officer with a soft voice. He had a clean haircut with glasses that made his eyes slightly large; his suit clean and free of wrinkles. The officer then went in front of Juan, shocking the young student who quickly looked at him as he grabbed his wrists. With a click, one of the handcuffs came off as Juan then looked at his wrists. 'Click' went the other handcuff as it freed Juan from its' grasp. Juan grabbed his wrists, soothing his skin as all four officers bowed again to the man and proceeded out of the room. Silence overran the room as both Juan and the man looked at each other, their eyes focusing every detail. The man looked down at Juan's legs, his skinny khaki's tucking in white socks that brightly contrasted his black ankle high sneakers. He then looked at his body, judging his tan dress shirt with his sleeves rolled up with a tan tie that was loosened around his neck. The man suddenly spoke something with a smug grin as he looked at Juan, who quickly looked at the man with a face of utter confusion. The man then said something else to Juan, only to be met with the same look. He slowly nodded when he figured out what was the problem and changed his view to a laptop that was on the edge of his desk. Juan stood there motionless as he glanced towards the man, who was busy looked at his device. "helro there" suddenly said a female voice. Juan slightly jumped when the voice spoke; "hello?' he cautiously asked. "I am Itsuko Mayumi, an engrish teacher at Saunders University, its a pleasure to meet you." she suddenly followed with a heavy accent. Juan stood, his head slightly tilted as he narrowed his eyes at the laptop. "The pleasure is all mine" he slowly said, trying to keep a pleasant tone. " I was requested to be your interpreter by Mr. Yamada, the Ooarai principle and head of the carrier." said Itsuko. The man quickly motioned for Juan to take a seat on one of the chairs that was in front of the desk. Juan slowly walked forward and pulled one of the chairs out, his hand pushing down on the red brown leather as he sat down. Juan looked at the man as he spoke something, his eyes barely glancing at the laptop screen. "Mr yamada is wondering where you come from and for what reason" suddenly said the voice. "its a long story" slowly said Juan as he took off his cap. There was a brief silence in the room until the voice spoke in Japanese at the man, who nodded as he listened. He then replied to the woman with a curious tone, his eyes glancing back at Juan. "Mr Yamada said, we have time to hear it in detail" said the woman.


	7. Chapter 7

[sorry if it seems like a mess, but ill try to clear it up.]

(24 Hours earlier)

The clicking of silver switches on the instrument panel echoed through out the cockpit. A loud slow whine started emanated from engine no. 2 which quickly turned into a loud roar as a plume of brown and grey exhaust shot from the pipe, the propeller blade spinning fast as it cut through the air. A loud low hum engulfed the cockpit as three more switches were flipped in order, the same whining noise following and quickly being replaced by loud roars and puffs of smoke. The B-17 shook and vibrated as Juan looked out the cockpit and viewed over the two engines that were on his side. Joe, with a lit cigarette in his mouth glanced over his side and checked on his responsibilities that were quickly spinning only feet away. Throughout the Tokyo international airport, lines of olive drabbed B-17's and B-24's, their paint weather and heavily chipped started their engines which turned into a large rumbles that silenced even the loudest of jets that were parked. Commotion turned into controlled chaos as young mechanics and ground controllers ran between the spinning blades of parked bombers. Jeeps and smaller vehicles raced across the concrete airfield carrying men and supplies out and away as dust began to fly in every direction. The constant ear-splitting roar of Wright Cyclone and Pratt and Whitney engines made every person inside the terminal look at the direction of the heavies. They took out their phones and cameras taking pictures and videos of an event that was hardly seen in public as they kept staring wide eyed. Juan opened his cockpit side window and started hitting his fists with his thumbs out, motioning for the chucks to be removed from the large black rubber tires. A scrawny kid grabbed a old and used rope with fibers sticking out and pulled hard as both wooden chucks went flying forward and rolled along behind the kid as he ran bent over. Juan smiled and gave a thumbs up to his ground crew as he closed the window with a thump. A sea of propellers spun in almost complete unison as the first B-24 with colorful nose art slowly started to move forward. Slowly followed by another B-24, and then by another as the lines began to move towards the takeoff strip. A brightly checkered jeep suddenly drove onto the strip in front of the first bomber, flying a flag which made the B-24 follow it with the same pace. Bomber after bomber started to roll forward to join the intricate dance that was going on; bombers stopping for others to cut in front of them as they waited. A tense feeling of nervousness was brewing between everyone as they watched all the bombers that were packed with live munitions get into neat straight lines, all looking at the first bomber who now was at the beginning of the strip, waiting for the flare that would launch them into the blue sky.

A deafening hum echoed throughout each bomber as the seconds turned into what felt like hours as all the young pilots stared at the huge control tower that was at the terminal, waiting anxiously for the flares. The tower was crowded with flight directors, both American and Japanese as they rambled and looked at the airfield that was littered with aircraft. The feeling got stronger and stronger as time stopped; all eyes glaring down the tower unblinking. All of a sudden, two bright red flares shot up from the tower side by side as they fell back down to Earth. The lead B-24 then revved its' engines to full throttle as it began to race down the strip. Its engines roaring louder than before as small bright camera flashes emanated from the background. Everybody held their breath as the built up tension and nervousness was about to explode. It all turned silent, mouths wide open, eyes unblinking as the bomber's wheels gracefully left the hard ground as it flew past the tower. Quickly, engine after engine screamed to life as bomber after bomber flew by with tremendous speeds, wheels going up, still spinning as they climbed in the distance. Juan and Joe looked out their cockpit to see B-24s taking off one after another like clockwork. 10 minutes passed when the B-17's finally rolled up to take off. Juan felt like his heart was about to explode as he tried his hardest to keep calm as he moved the heavy bomber to the edge of the strip. Joe leaned sideways and lowered a level which clicked into its slot on the floor; turning off a light that read above 'tail wheel lock'. Juan's and Joe's hands flew throughout the cabin as they flipped switches and levers. Juan slightly tensed up as hit gloved hands squeezed his control yolk tightly, feeling the sweat moisten his tan gloves. "We're set" he said with a tone full of nervousness and slight panic. Joe moved his glove a bit and checked on his watch. After glaring at it for a moment, he turned towards Juan and nodded. Juan took a deep breath and said with his most confident tone that had traces of nervousness "Here we go boys" as he and Joe grabbed the throttles and started to push them forward. the B-17 then started to speed up down the runway; Joe, Juan and Chris who was standing behind them looking at the instrument panel all stared forward at the runway the raced beneath them. Juan held tightly to the yolk as started to pull back slowly at it, feeling as the vibrating bomber started to leave the ground. Juan held his breath and suddenly, he felt nothing underneath him as the bomber gracefully took off, its dark shadow shrinking smaller as the plane gained altitude. Onlookers and personnel looked at the B-17 with a lively Speedy Gonzales nose art as it took off to fight in another bloody school match.

"Look at that view" commented Joe as he kept adjusting throttles. Juan glanced down towards a packed city whose occupants all looked up towards him; he feeling their eyes all stare him down. Everybody in Tokyo abruptly stopped and glanced up and slightly covered their eyes as the bombers flew overhead, their loud humming covering the city as they formed into their groups. "I cant get rid of this feeling, it always hits me when we go up" softly said Juan as his browsed over each dial on the instrument panel. Thin lines of white smoke danced throughout the cockpit as Joe took a puff of his cigarette. "Don't worry skip, I do too. I can't tell you how many times I almost shit myself thinking we might crash and blow up on take off, not that would make any difference seeing what we go through on a weekly basis". Juan glanced at his co-pilot that was looking down below, his cigarette barely on his lips as it kept releasing its calming poison. Juan's hands softly trembled as he started to release the tight grip of the control yolk; his breathing slowly going back to normal as he tried to focus on the task at hand. "Didn't expect the sun to be this bright" griped Joe as he put his right hand above his eyes and looked up out of the top window. "You still got our sunglasses?" suddenly asked Juan as he too looked up. Joe immediately reached his hand down his right side of the seat and pulled out two pairs of large, reflective round glasses that gleamed bright as the sun hit them. He passed one to Juan as he put on his; the glasses reflecting everything that was pointing in its direction. Juan put his on and looked through the amber tinted eyes as he kept going with his mental checks. He slowly paused and looked at the corner of the windshield, his eyes not moving away. He softly smiled and silently prayed to himself a verse he had been saying for a while.

"What's that up there?" asked Yukari as she pointed to a corner of the windshield where a small photo was taped on. Erwin looked at and slowly pulled it off the metal frame. On the slightly worn picture, was an image of Jesus Christ with a blue and red beam coming out of his heart at different angles. "I don't know, I think it might be that deity that western religions speak of, Jesus I think was his name" commented Erwin as she turned over the photo and found some small writing on the back of the photo. She gazed upon it, however not knowing what it said she placed it on top of the instrument panel. As she placed the photo there, she looked out and saw the nose of the aircraft which had a huge hole where the navigator would be positioned. She got out of her seat with a swift movement and went down to the passageway that would lead to the nose of the B-17, only to find the entrance blocked by the twisted fuselage that smashed in when the plane crashed. "What's the rush Erwin, you didn't seem like your usual self there?" asked Yukari with a surprised tone and emotion on her face. Erwin looked back at Yukari, but quickly glanced away towards the floor. "What's wrong? You're beginning to worry me" asked Yukari, whose voice was mixed with concern and fear. "nothing, its just, the crew of the aircraft, they keep coming in my mind." slowly said Erwin, her heart feeling slightly heavy. "Oh yeah, I was wondering about that; what happened to the crew?" I didn't see any parachutes, and most of their personal belongings are still on board, do you think they jumped?" curiously asked Yukari, her prying eyes not leaving Erwin. Erwin looked at the instrument panel, her eyes seeming to look at something that was hundreds of miles away. "No, they didn't bail.." Yukari's eyes slowly widening by the second. "You mean?" she silently asked; Erwin gave a smug look as she looked back at Yukari as she slowly said with a confident tone" because I saw them last night. There was a brief moment of silence between the two until Yukari's eyes opened as wide as they would go and she yelled "YOU SAW THE CREW?!". her voice almost breaking when she tried to understand what Erwin said. " You mean.. th-they landed _this_ thing on our ship? How many did you see? How did they look like? Were they academy girls from japan? " she bombarded Erwin, who tired to chose a question. She put her hands up trying to calm Yukari who kept asking away. "yes, I saw them; there were about 10 of them, so it was the whole crew." Erwin calmly said as she tried to recollect events from the incident. "Wait, you said you saw the whole crew right?" quickly interrupted Yukari as she looked at Erwin; "yeah" she nodded. Yukari's eyes darted off as she thought in her head something that began to bug her. "Were any of them wearing parachutes?" she immediately asked. Erwin looked down while she thought hard, trying to remember every last detail as she sat down on the cold wood. "I saw most of them were wearing the white harnesses, but no actual parachutes if I remember correctly." Yukari kept thinking after the new information entered her ears as she tried to piece everything together. " So if there were no parachutes, and they made a crash landing; so that means they couldn't bail out even if they wanted too "exclaimed Yukari." I wonder why though" she added, her mind seeming to be high in the sky. Erwin then remembered something else that saw, her eyes opening in shock. ' None of them were wearing high altitude gear that bomber crews would wear unless they...' thought Erwin. She quickly snapped her fingers which made a loud click as she slightly smiled, but quickly dissipated as she looked up at Yukari. " I know why they didn't bail out, and I knew I saw it before. U.S aircrews crews did it back in 1943, on the run at Ploesti. Most of the crews didn't carry parachutes for the same reason why these guys didn't have any either." she confidently said. Yukari's mouth slightly dropped open when she also realized "you mean?" ; "yeah" slowly replied Erwin as she glanced back the instrument panel.

" I still can't believe we are doing this run at low level, seems like it wont fucking work." abruptly said Joe as he looked away from the instrument panel towards the formation of B-17's as they flew across the ocean, being followed by a another group of bombers a mile behind. The sky was clear light blue, dense clouds floating in the distance as they seemed to connect to the teal colored ocean; its ripples barely noticeable to the naked eye. " If you don't believe this won't work, then why the hell didn't you say anything during the meeting back in Cali when the commanders were planning it." said Juan with an annoyed cocky tone. "Cause I was falling asleep, why didn't you say anything then?" quickly retorted Joe. "because I was too entranced by the plan, I listened to it all" smugly replied Juan. "bitch you looked like you were fucking braindead in there." Joe chuckled. "Drool coming out of your mouth and all" he added. Joe put out his cigarette on a jerry-rigged ashtray as Juan pulled out a used pipe that had teeth marks on the plastic and scratches on the varnished wood. He put it in his mouth, his dark wispy mustache bending around the top of his lip as he bit down on the plastic. "Why do you even have that?; you don't even smoke" bluntly commented Joe as he looked at Juan, his glasses reflecting Juan's face. "Cause it calms me down, you know this Joe. For god sakes we are going in less than a hundred feet and those jap students are going to throw everything at us including the damn kitchen sink!" Juan exclaimed. "I should have fucking said something, fuck!" he added. There was brief silence between the two until the intercom suddenly sparked to life as Rick asked "Uh skip, we are about fifty miles from target and I'm wondering something skip; why didn't we pack any parachutes?" The constant humming of the four engines sounded throughout the B-17 as Juan let the words sink in. "It because of the level we are going in, parachutes at that height will be useless. You'll skip like a rock on the ocean before it opens, if at all." Juan replied in concerned tone. "We need some thing to listen or I'm about to loose my fucking mind" he added in discontent. "hey brock, do you think you can find something for us and maybe the group?" asked Joe as he gripped his throat. "sure, I've been eying a station since we left Tokyo; still think we are in range" happily replied Brock.

Music started flowing through the headsets as everybody started to enjoy the view as they looked out their windows, their eyes meeting other eyes in different aircraft. "Hmm' thought Juan as he listen to the song as it kept on going. "What" asked Joe with slight surprised. "The song, its Kendrick...Money Trees" slowly replied Juan. "I didn't know Japs listened to Hip Hop, uncensored too" Joe bluntly said. Juan started to silently mouth the song as he stared forward , his eyes never leaving the B-17 that was slightly above them, leading the formation. "its the same song we heard for our first ever match" casually spoke Juan, his mind going back to the first match that almost became their last. His thoughts drifted away as the bomber slowly lumbered with the other giants, their crews in their own personal bubbles as they laughed; trying to enjoy the flames of their youth that could be easily be blown out. "Sir, we are about to enter the arena airspace" cautiously said Rick over the intercom. Juan broke from his trance as he listened to the words that suddenly brought fear. "Al..alright, boys we are entering the arena, lets test our guns quickly." he announced. All the gunners cocked their weapons as they clicked put the first round into the chambers. Suddenly, short bursts of ear-deafening cracks emanated from all over the aircraft as sharps clinks quickly followed by the falling empty shells as they hit the floor. "looks like we are good then" said Juan, his voice beginning to tremble. The music slowly stopped as Brock quickly came on the intercom, his voice full of doubt and slight fear. "Skip, we haven't met up with out escort yet and I can't pick up their signal. On top of that, Mount 'N Ride directed all of the group to start heading down to 100 feet above the water to begin on the IP". "Right, alright boys, looks like our girl and her squad couldn't make it. They probably tangled with he enemy team before they can reach us, but either way keep sharp and don't waste any ammo, got it?" nervously said Juan as he tried to show some bravado to boost morale. "This is it" said Joe as he took a deep breath, Juan taking out his pipe and placing it beside him, his hand slightly shaking. The bombers started to slowly dive to the pre-determined height, fear and anxiety in the atmosphere of each bomber as they dived, eyes staring in every direction.

Minutes slowly passed by as everyone was on alert, their hands tightening on their guns as they scanned the sky. "We are about 10 miles to target;we are about to begin the bomb run in a few minutes" announced Rick. he looked down at his table, to a map that he hadn't used before. 'hope to god that fucker doesn't mess up my map I let him borrow' thought Rick as his slowly turned to a figure he bought only a few hours ago in a small shop. "Why did you buy that thing?" suddenly asked Erik as he turned his head back to Rick. "Makes you look like a dirty weeb man" he chuckled. "cause I know what art is you uncultured mongoloid." retorted Rick. Erik slightly smiled as he turned back around and kept kneeling in front of his twin 50. cal. ;"art" he mumbled. In the distance he saw something peculiar and squinted his eyes. "Jesus Christ" he loudly said as is eyes widened. "What is it?" asked Rick with curiosity; he looked past Erik, his eyes widening as well, "Son of a fucking bitch" he muttered as he kept looking past Erik's shoulder in the cramped nose. "The fuck is that?" blurted out Joe as he slowly took off his glasses. Juan kept looking forward and saw black, small black lines lazily rise into the sky in the distance as small little black specs were flying through them. " I thought they said the refinery was abandoned long ago?!" yelled Joe as he looked at Juan, whose eyes were hidden by his sunglasses. "BANDITS!, ELEVEN O' CLOCK HIGH!" screamed someone over the intercom. Juan's heart immediately raced as he looked up, holding his breath and glowered at the sun. he was barely able to see a bunch of black objects when another voice interrupted, full of fear like the first; "BANDITS, COMING IN AT 6!". All guns swiftly moved to the oncoming attackers. Everybody waited for the fighters to pounce, waited for them to get in range. Within seconds cracks of thunder erupted out of each bomber as yellow/orange tracers shot into the sky. Voices bursting through the channel as they announced different fighters that were attacking. The Japanese fighters zoomed by through the low formation, their guns blasting away at the bombers. "Bogey 4' high, Brock you see him?" asked a voice; Brock immediately answered by moving his gun. " I got one high and another on my back!" yelled a voice in the formation. "I got him" confidently said Brock, his machine gun erupting as he fired away. Tracers flew past the fighter as it zoomed by another bomber, which immediately trained all it guns at it. Verbal chaos shot through the intercom as each member called a fighter, quickly shooting at it as smoking empty shells bounced off the floor. Yellow tracers followed a dark green Japanese zero as it past a bomber. They hit the target which flickered as they impacted, blood immediately covering the shot up canopy. It kept flying as it crashed into the water and cart-wheeled on its wings until it exploded. Gunfire continued as the fighters zoomed past the formation in every angle. Chuck aimed down his gun as a silver zero came into his sights; heart racing as he pulled the trigger without hesitation, blasting away at the fighter as it quickly burst in flames and flew over the B-17, crashing into the ocean only a few hundred feet away. "I got one!" he cheerfully said kept shooting away as more fighters pounced. "Watch out cockpit there's one heading straight for ya" Said Tony as he looked up at a oddly painted Zero that was heading straight towards the front of the bomber. Juan and Joe looked with horror as the fighter got closer and closer, only to be driven off at the last second as Erick shot at it , missing his shots by mere inches. The fighter swiftly rolled on it's side and buzzed by the bomber with feet to spare. Juan took up one of his hands and stuck his middle finger out as the fighter passed. "That bitch was glaring us down!" yelled Joe; "I know who the cunt was, and he doesn't fuck around" sternly said Juan as he looked around the sky. Joe looked at Juan with eyes of morbid curiosity. "didn't expect him showing up, we're are twice as fucked now " he quickly added. A loud explosion broke through the loud chaos; turning everyone's head where it sounded from. A b-17 with it's outer wing engulfed in flames started to go down as engine number four exploded into flames, turning the entire right wing in a burning mess as it plunged into the ocean, exploding into a thousand bits that skipped across the water, no survivors emerging. "Fuck, I think that was Richie and his boys" yelled Joe as he glanced back at the wreck that was quickly being left behind. "Keep going guys, don't let up on those pricks" he yelled, his heart sinking deeper as he imagined the death those boys went through. "Skip, we're starting the bomb run!" yelled Rick over the intercom, his voice trembling as machine gun fire ripped through the skies. Juan's eyes staring wide as the smoke got bigger and bigger, explosions rocking on the tiny island.


	8. Chapter 8

(I'm sorry if this seemed a bit rushed, but I fell that I'm loosing my mojo to make this story interesting)

Erwin looked out the window, her eyes scanning the clear field as the grass softly swayed back forth carelessly. "Wonder if they are like Saunders?" she commented as she kept looking out. "Like in wealth or skill?" replied Yukari as she looked at Erwin, "cause by the look of this I think they match Saunders by wealth more than skill". she slightly laughed. " I don't know how these pilots match up to each other, I think personal skill is more important than team skill. They all come together and use their skills and work together, like us; the only difference here is that their lives are at stake as well, something we might never know. "Erwin replied, her tone saddening by the word. Yukari's face slightly tensed up as the words hit her. "You mean they fight to the death?". Erwin nodded as she continued "This plane has seen a lot more action and pain than our tanks will ever see. More heartache and teamwork mixed together than us I suppose; I've seen little dried blood spots around the waist, somebody has died in there most likely". Erwin said as her voice got sadder. "You said you saw them right? the crew who flew this beast?" she softly said as she lowered her face. Erwin looked at Yukari and saw her friend slightly drown in emotion, her head held low as she thought to herself. Erwin began to feel a feeling of regret quickly run over her as she looked at Yukari. She bit her lip as she placed her hand on Yukari's shoulder, who quickly looked at it and then Erwin who had a smile on her face. "Don't feel bad, I think they know what they are in and look at the situation with bravery like true soldiers, and I know you have a big heart; though you haven't even seen them or met them, I can tell you care for them, all of them." Erwin said, her voice full of empathy and hope. Yukari's face lightened up brightly as she smiled as well and nodded. There was a period of silence between them as they reflected about what they said. All remained silent in the cockpit, silent enough to barely hear the B-17 cry in pain as it laid there in the grassy field, all destroyed and broken after all it went through. "Its hard to believe a crew of girls have to fight to the death with each other, I never heard of such things." said Yukari as she looked at the top turret which remained motionless. "They weren't girls". replied Erwin with a blunt attitude. "So you mean they were boys? All of them?" quickly asked Yukari as she quickly turned towards Erwin who was still sitting on the floor. She nodded with her arms crossed on her chest. "I wonder how Saori will react once she hears that boys are on this ship?" asked Yukari to herself as she tired to imagine the orange haired girl ogle over the mysterious male visitors. "That is if they will be able to understand her." commented Erwin as she slightly giggled. Yukari looked at Erwin with a gaze of confusion; "they are American , all of them, or most of them I think." she added as she slightly scratched her head trying to remember. Yukari's face slightly smiled as she playfully uttered "If they are American, then Saori will have almost all of Saunders to compete with. I heard those girls will kill just to speak to an actual American boy." "Imagine if we have to get into a match with them just to see who will want to hold custody" Laughed Erwin as Yukari quickly joined in. There was a happy feeling within the cockpit as they imagined and laughed the stupidity of it all.

(19 Hours earlier)

Bullets slammed into the fuselage creating bullet holes that ran in straight lines, illuminating the interior with bright small beams of light that came from outside. Machine guns kept blasting in the air as planes zoomed and rolled through the formation. There were feelings of terror and anger mixed with high doses of adrenaline as hands shook from the recoil of the 50. cals , the eyes of the gunners staring down the metal bead sights with eyes full of cool focus and murderous intent. Bullet after bullet being quickly spit out of the muzzle as their casings went flying onto the fuselage floor, clanking and pinging sharply as the gunners stepped over them. "10 o' clock, 10 o' clock high!" yelled Brock as he fired, quickly being joined by Chris as he turned his turret towards the direction of an Oscar that was diving from above. Two more bombers behind 'Speedy Gonzales' joined in the barrage and hit the Oscar, which sparkled when the bullets hit the canopy and wings. In an instant, the fighter quickly rolled over on its back and plunged into the sea creating a huge water cone that shot up into the air. A zero suddenly zoomed at an angle in front of the formation and fired it guns point blank to the glass noses of the B-17s. Erik was trying to aim his double 50's at the attacker when yellow tracers slammed into the glass nose, hitting the bombsight, taking most of the bullets as Erik stared at the shot up bombsight, that was directly in front of him. His heart stopped as his mind went blank trying to figure out what happened. He quickly felt rough slaps against his back; his mind came back into reality as he quickly turned and Saw Rick gaze upon him with eyes full of concern and fear. "Too damn close' Erik thought as he examined the bombsight. Juan looked straight ahead as the island began to get closer and closer, the smoke getting bigger and thicker as small puffs of green/black smoke started appear in the distance to the approaching bombers. "Skip?" suddenly came to life a voice on the com; "yeah Erik what is it?" quickly responded Juan, his eyes glancing back and forth between the instrument panel and the target that was approaching, his heart beginning to race faster and faster. "I think I wont be able to use the bomb sight, it got hit". said Erik, his voice trembling with nervousness and shock. The intercom was beginning to fill again with chatter from the gunners as they loudly said their targets. "Are you hit?" Quickly asked Juan, his mind beginning to think of the worst. "I'm okay so far, a bit mentally fucked up, but that's not new" responded Erik with a shaky humorous tone. "Alright, you remember the practice for low level bombing?" Loudly asked Juan as he tried to get his voice louder than the rest of the crew; "Yeah" quickly responded Erik. "alright, be ready, we are about to be over the target, so don't fuck around, let Rick cover us from the front!" yelled Juan, his voice beginning to get more tense. "Damn, the camera planes are sure getting closer than ever." said Joe as he looked over Juan's shoulder. Juan swiftly turned and saw two large H8K flying boats with bold large writing on their hulls in English and Japanese that read "Camera Planes, do not shoot" "People want to see the carnage, that's what we get paid to do." growled Juan as large yellow tracers started flying toward the bomber group. "fucking AA is thick, didn't expect the japs to have this much money". Joe grunted as the tracers whizzed by. Gunfire still erupted from the bombers as the remaining fighters started to pull away to attack the last wave that was following the B-17's. All of a sudden, one fighter went in front of the group and started to dive headlong into the formation for one last pass. The silver zero started to dive quickly as it did a half roll as ten different 50.'s started basting at it. A cone of bullets engulfed the zero within moments as it's left wing ripped away and its engine exploded in flames. The tumbling fighter screamed by uncontrollably in circles as it smashed into the nose of a B-17 that was in it's path. A skin-curling scream of metal tearing apart roared through the sky as the burning zero smashed the bomber's nose within a blink of an eye, sending gnarled pieces of blood covered metal tumbling deeper in the fuselage of the bomber and skipping across the ocean as the flying mangled and burning twisted mess slightly leaped upwards from the impact. Everybody in the formation stopped and stared at the horrifying spectacle with disbelief as the bomber began to dive nose first into the sea. Suddenly, two dark figures leapt out of the falling bomber, only to hit the ocean with tremendous speeds and quickly skid across the waves as their bodies rag dolled into the wreck that flipped on it's back, sending the tail straight up for a second as a huge water explosion covered the crash. A feeling of pure sickness ran through Juan as he felt something stuck in his throat, his heart slamming deeper. A tear began to run down Doc's check as he silently started praying, his words full of sorrow and remorse as the whole crew listened, their eyes still glancing at the wreck the started to disappear as the formation sped along.

Juan roughly swallowed back down his vomit as the AA began to be more intense as yellow tracers whizzed by, the B-17 beginning to shake from the Flak. The island started to fully appear as the black smoke trails turned into huge columns of blinding walls that cast a large shadow over the small strip of exploding and flame engulfed sand. "Skip, you're going to have to follow my directions to hit the target, I can't use auto-pilot here!" suddenly yelled Erik as he looked out his shot plexi-glass bubble to the chaos that was quickly approaching. "Right" immediately followed Joe as he nodded at Juan, who was beginning to sweat more. "Bomb bay doors open." announced Erik with bravado as he firmly grasped a lever and pushed it down. A loud whoosh of air erupted from behind Juan and Joe as light started to flood the bomb bay, lighting up the shapes of dark olive green bombs that were hanging one on top of the other. "One Minute to target, here we go boys!" yelled Rick as the plane rocked in every direction as flak bursted in the air, sending it's metal vengeance everywhere as the AA continued its rampage. Erik's eyes stared straight forward, unblinking and unmoving as his finger carefully moved the small, worn cover of the bomb release switch. He then gracefully placed his middle finger on the switch, ready to flick it on a moments notice. A feeling of suspense began to grow within the group as everyone held their breath, waiting for the bombs to drop. Juan looked at the island in detail, seeing mangled steel pipes, twisted and burning towers and large oil drums, some with large fires consuming them as they littered the strip of land. The shoreline of the island began to get closer and closer, the AA getting more intense as the whole sky became covered in black puff and steams of yellow tracers, their echoes being more louder than the approaching bombers. "Fucking hell, this might be as bad as the time we versed Rhur Valley Academy!" yelled Tony to Chuck, his left hand tightly grasping his 50. cal. while his right was holding on a metal rib of the fuselage. "Very" bluntly responded Chuck, his voice emitting traces of panic as his covered eyes scanned at the formation. He looked up at a B-17 above them and at that moment, a flak burst struck the waist of the B-17, creating a large hole; small pieces of metal fell out of the bomber as it continued forward, disregarding the damage it took. Chuck took a deep breath as his heart raced even faster, almost coming out of his chest as he turned his head towards the inside of the bomber, sweat beginning to fog up his goggles as the B-17 shook and rattled. "30 seconds!" yelled Erik as his finger twirled on the stop of the switch. His eyes staring straight ahead; the shoreline zoomed underneath as fires and smoke covered the land. 'drop them already, get them away' thought Juan as he held on the yolk, gripping it tighter by the moment. Explosions rocked through the hellish landscape; "20 seconds!" yelled Erik, his voice beginning to panic in fear. Leaning metal towers loomed through the plumes of dense smoke, fires burning all around as time began to stop, emotions of fear, terror and anxiety riddled throughout each bomber as all crews waiting for two magic words that would make them get away from hell on Earth. "10 seconds!" screamed the intercom; 'this is it' thought Juan as he yanked away his sunglasses, tossing them beside his seat as darkness consumed the cockpit.

A flak burst erupted close to the bomber, making all of its occupants shake within the aircraft; metal shards flying through the fuselage like a hot knife through butter. "Hold on baby!" grunted Joe as he looked at the instrument panel, his eyes quickly glancing to a bobble head on top of it. The bobble head shook violently with each burst. All tense feelings were about to explode when suddenly, a voice full of relief loudly announced "Bombs away!". Erik moved the switch; one by one, the bombs fell towards the Earth, clicking and clanking as they fell out of the bomb bay; the B-17 leaping upwards as it released its payload. All throughout the battered formation, bomb after bomb quickly fell out of each plane as they landed on the island and disappeared within the chaos. "lets get out of here" yelled Juan as he pulled the yolk to his gut and turned right. The bomber listed right as it turned up. A piece of metal from an exploding drum shot through the air as it zoomed by the formation as they tried to escape the carnage, striking in the tail of Speedy Gonzales, shearing through the fabric covered control surface and lodging itself in the rudder. "What the Fuck!?' yelled Juan in panic as the bomber did a tight right turn, listing heavily as everyone leaned to the right. Erik flew within the nose and smacked against the glass nose, his body making a loud thud as Rick held on to his table, his body covering his maps as he screamed at the top of his lungs. He looked at his figure that skidded across the table with eyes of fleeting panic. It fell of the desk as it flew to the other side of the metal nose. Rick lunged for it and grabbed it as he hit the fuselage with a large thud, his back striking a metal rib. A sharp pain shot through him as he looked at his desk. A roaring shriek echoed through the nose as a large yellow tracer shot through the table, making a large hole of twisted metal as it obliterated the table and the metal boxes that were hanging over the station. Rick stared wide eyed at his former position, his mouth slightly opened as he saw what could have happened to him if his figurine didn't fly off the desk. His mind immediately went blank afterwards as he stared at the fucked up desk. Tony held on to his gun with his life as the too yelled with terror, his slightly bloodshot eyes shedding tears as he prayed in his mind. The bomber spun in a large Simi-circle as it flew through the formation; Erik's eyes stared down a bomber as it flew beneath the bomber, with only feet to spare, his heart racing as he screamed in terror and fear. "Come on bitch, don't do this!" screamed Joe as addrelnine ran through his body, his hands almost ripping the yolk from its spot. Juan gritted his teeth as the bomber flew past the rest of the formation, all eyes glaring it down as it disappeared into a large smoke plume. The metal fragment suddenly dislodged itself after constant moving of the tail, clanking as it fell out of the tail. "We got control again" commented Juan in relief as smoke engulfed the bomber as it kept flying, its black/brown fumes choking the life of its occupants. "Masks on, masks on!" yelled Juan as he grabbed his oxygen mask and hastily put it on. Everybody did the same as Juan and Joe turned the bomber right, trying to find a way out of the smoke.

Tears fell out of Juan and Joe's bloodshot eyes as they tried to see the instrument panel, their vision blurring as tears kept flowing. "We need to get out of here!" exclaimed Juan as his eyes burned with anguish. "Why does the fucking smoke never end!?" replied Joe as he wiped his eyes with his sweaty arm, causing more stinging pain. 'father help us please' though Juan as his mind raced for a solution, tears still running down his rubber oxygen mask. Smoke covered the windshield as the B-17 pressed on, trying to escape the grip of the deadly smoke. After what seemed liked an eternity of darkness, the sky suddenly turned white as the black smoke disappeared, being replaced by a soft white glow. Minutes went by as everyone removed their masks, breathing in cool fresh air and wiping away their eyes, still bloodshot and in slight pain. Suddenly, the white scattered and a bright light attacked the bomber, showering it in a blinding yellow light. Juan and Joe instantly covered their eyes as the light hit them. 'Are we dead?' silently asked Joe as he slowly removed his hand from his eyes, squinting as he blinked rapidly; Juan did the same. They opened their eyes and gazed in awe as their mouths slightly dropped. The sky was a clear light blue, large bright white clouds floated about, making shadows on the teal sea below as a strange peace hit the crew. "What is this?" slowly asked Juan as his eyes bounced in every angle taking in the beautiful view. "Heaven." replied Joe as he glanced at the ocean below. Juan looked up and saw something he never saw before, his eyes widening with curiosity as he kept glaring at it, his heart beating slowly. A large glittering sliver stream graced the atmosphere above him, shining brightly as little specks flew towards it, disappearing into the stream. He squinted hard and his mouth quickly opened when he saw that the stream consisted of millions and millions of airplanes from every era of history, all flying in the same direction aimlessly. "J..Jo...Joe are you seeing this?" nervously asked Juan as he quickly turned to Joe. Joe turned towards Juan who was pointing up with a look of confusion on his face. He looked up and saw a clear blue sky above them, clouds lazily floating about. "Seeing what?" he quickly asked as he looked at Juan. "The formation above us!" he replied bluntly; "What formation? I think that smoke fucked up with your mind skip." Joe sarcastically said. "No, I swear I saw a large formation that was above us, se..." Juan slowly stopped as he looked up, only to see a clear blue sky that graced the atmosphere. "You're loosing it skip" chuckled Joe as he kept scanning the horizon" we have to find out where we are. I cant see the bomber groups or the island" he added.

Juan stared forward as his mind shifted back to the spectacle he just saw, wondering if he really did see something or an illusion. "hey, I need your fucking help here man, we are in some deep shit" said Joe, breaking Juan's trance as he quickly looked at his co-pilot. He kept looking at Joe with eyes of confusion, only to be met back with eyes of frustration. "Juan, we are lost, I cant find any trace of the match and I don't know where we are." he said. Juan grabbed his throat and pressed a button on his mic. "First off boys, I want a call in to see that everybody's alright. Second, Rick, I want you to figure out where we are at, alright?" There was a silence throughout the intercom until it quickly sparked to life as each member reported in, each voice full of relief. "Now that we got that out of the way, how's it going Rick?" asked Juan. "Uh, skip, there's a problem" slowly replied Rick as he looked at his desk. "What do you mean?" quickly asked joe. "My station took a hit during the run, I'm okay but all my instruments and maps have been fucked up beyond repair, so I might not be able to find out where we are." replied Rick as he glanced at his figurine. "mmm, Brock can you find the frequency of the bombers?" asked Joe as he checked the instrument panel. "Some of my radios took some flak, but they are still able to work; ill try though." quickly replied Brock. Joe looked at Juan with eyes full of nervousness. "Its alright if the tracker is still working, if all else fails we can still rely on that, its going to be okay trust me" said Juan as he looked at Joe, his eyes gleaming with reassurance as he smiled.


	9. Chapter 9

(Sorry if these chapters are too short, ill try to make them a bit longer, but sometimes I just want to end a chapter so I can continue with anew one"

There was an uneasy feeling in the air as Juan ran his hand through his hair, only for it to go down in the same place. There was a soft constant whooshing of a wooden fan that slowly spun on the ceiling of the room, sending gentle waves of cool air as it rotated. Juan took a deep breath as he looked at Mr. Yamada whose gaze was piercing through him, studying the young Mexican that was sitting in front of him in detail. With a slight hand movement, he motioned for Juan to continue. Slowly and cautiously he continued; "After that, we spent hours flying around trying to find somewhere to land until night fell upon us, and only till then is when we located this ship and had to make an emergency landing. To be honest sir, we felt so relieved to find the carrier because we were certain we were going to die. I mean, we face the constant threat of dying on a weekly basis, but it would be better if we died instantly rather than wait as death slowly consumed us." Juan's face suddenly sadden a bit when he remembered the casualties he saw yesterday; his thoughts quickly replaying them over and over. He kept hoping they didn't suffer as his eyes gazed into nothing. The woman's voice suddenly spoke as she translated everything, but Juan's trance wasn't broken. Mr. Yamada's face slightly softened as the woman continued, her tone slightly cracking when she nearly finished. After she finally finished, Mr. Yamada grabbed one of his drawers and pulled out a remote, which he then prompted pointed it to a large flat screen TV and turned it on to a sports channel that was showing the results of a Japanese Baseball game. Juan slowly broke out of his trance and returned to reality as he turned his head and looked at the TV. Mr. Yamada suddenly spoke with a tone that seemed to be softer than before. Juan sat there nervously, his hands slightly crushing his cap as he waited for the translator to start. The man suddenly finished and a tense moment passed by, Juan waiting for what he was about to hear. "Mr. Yamada understands what you went through, and he knows where you come from as well". the lady announced. Juan's eyebrows suddenly lifted in curiosity as he looked at Mr. Yamada with a look that asked 'you do?' Mr. Yamada nodded as he said something to Mrs. Mayumi, who quickly continued. "You and your, 'boys' are from the G.A.C, Global Aviashion Cloob, no?" Juan nodded in response, his gaze not leaving the man who was sitting in front of him. Mr. Yamada then spoke again, his tone getting more tense as he spoke with a calm demeanor. "You know what you have done? You have destroyed private property and brought your wretched gambling games to this honorable and prestigious school." translated Mrs. Mayumi, her tone not changing one bit to Mr. Yamada's. A few seconds passed by as Juan lowered his head and tried to think of something to retaliate against Mr. Yamada's accusations. The man suddenly pointed at the TV to Juan's surprise; he quickly turned his head towards it and gazed upon it with eyes of remorse. Though all of the words were Japanese, he knew it was a recap of yesterday's match as he saw an American Flag and a Japanese flag with numbers and words underneath them. A deathly silence engulfed the room as Juan stared wide eyed at the TV, his eyes glancing at every picture and number that appeared. A male voice commentated throughout the recap as both gun cam footage and footage shot by the camera planes played showing fighters and bombers going down. Juan felt a sick feeling in his stomach as if someone was twisting his insides. A large American flag covered the screen and quickly disappeared as five rows of Japanese writing with numbers in parenthesis at the ends appeared. Juan looked at the numbers and knew that each group of numbers represented a different school that participated in the match. The first group of words were quickly enlarged as footage of B-24's were played in a smaller box." Eastwood High" silently mumbled Juan as he kept staring. Suddenly the number 24 appeared in white next to the school name, which was then followed by the number 11 in a bright red. "11 shot down, damn those poor bastards had it tough." he thought to himself. The letters then shrunk as the second row of letters enhanced like the previous. Different footage played showing the second wave of bombers that hit the island; a bold white 22 appeared, which was then quickly followed by the bloody red numerals that announced eight had gone down. Juan's heart slightly sunk as he kept staring at the TV screen as the commentator continued rambling in a language Juan was getting frustrated for not understanding. '19 boys shot down' he kept thinking in his head, trying to keep a mental record of the casualties. As before, the words disappeared as a new line came up, showing footage of B-17's coming under attack as the number 25 appeared. Juan held his breath, his heart starting to beat faster as he waited for the kill count. A red five appeared; Juan's thoughts quickly shifting back to the slaughter of bombers that went down in front of his face, the image of the two crew, their bodies skipping across the waves kept replaying over and over again. He started to feel weak, almost loosing all sensation in his body as his eyes kept glaring down the broadcast. 'just one more group, one more group' he thought to himself. The TV echoed throughout the room as all eyes gazed upon it, unshifting their sights to the morbid report. Footage played of the last group, which was defending itself gallantly, but to Juan's complete surprise the reel showed only a few fighters attacking the last group, much less than what the first three waves endured. A bold white number 21 showed up, which was quickly followed by the number two in the same bright bloody red. "Just two lost?" Juan silently asked himself as he raised his head up from his unprofessional slouch. His mind quickly raced as he tried to calculate how many were lost and why the final wave lost so little. The TV played as Mr. Yamada spoke once again, his voice drowning out the background noise." Mr. Yamada said he will speak to the head directors and chiefs of your survival young man, he's sure they will change one of those numbers listed before us." spoke Mrs. Mayumi, her tone sounding completely different from Mr. Yamada. Juan sat there as he listened, his mind slowly drifting away to his thoughts as the translator continued. "Mr. American pilot, you will wait outside the doors until you are instructed to come back in." strictly announced the woman as Juan quickly snapped into reality, his mind still slightly hazy. The man pointed toward the door. Juan slowly stood up and cautiously opened one of the large wood doors. It loudly creaked slightly making Juan jump as he walked out, shutting the door softly behind him as he looked towards a bright light that was in the middle of the ceiling above him. He leaned his back against the smooth wall next to the door and shut his eyes, his thoughts and feelings in a chaotic struggle.

"I think we've seen all what we could see". said Yukari as he she glanced outside the shattered cockpit window, viewing the clear open field that was surrounded by tanks in every direction. The shadows began to slightly move as the sun began its slow descent, its bright rays still showering everything it touched with hot beams of yellow light. "Yeah, you're right, plus I'm beginning to sweat in this can of spam!" cheerfully agreed Erwin as she stood up, walking through the open door that lead to the bomb bay. Yukari got out of the co-pilot's chair and followed Erwin through the cramped quarters until the reached back into the radio operator's room. They slightly closed their eyes as they tried to adjust to the brightly lit compartment. "How do we get out?" asked Erwin as she turned to Yukari, who started jumping to reach the ledge of the large window With a loud thud she managed to get half of her body out of the compartment as Erwin stared blankly at what was occurring. Yukari kicked her legs in every direction and slowly, but surely managed to slither her body out of the B-17. Erwin looked at her feet as they disappeared and immediately heard a loud metallic thump as Yukari yelled in a blunt tone. Erwin quickly went to a small window in the radio compartment that overlooked the main wing and saw Yukari lie on her back with her arms and legs outstretched in every direction. "Are you Ok?" loudly asked Erwin as some girls started to run towards their location. Yukari sat up and scratched the back of her head and turned towards Erwin with a big smile on her face. "yeah, I'm fine, just wanted to be one with the airplane" she chuckled. 'nothing can get through this girl huh?' Erwin asked herself as she looked at Yukari with slight disbelief. She shook her head as she looked around the compartment for something to give her a boost to get out of the aircraft. She stepped on top of the small wood table that was on the edge of the compartment. She grabbed the edge of the large window framing, her hands slightly burning on the hot metal. A sharp pain rain through her hands as she quickly prepared to jump. With a flash she leaped from the table and with her arms scurrying everywhere to grab a hold on something, she made it out. As she stood and wiped herself off, she noticed a burning sensation from under her foot and saw that she lost one of her sandals. She quickly peered back into the aircraft and saw it lying in the middle of the compartment. "Damn" she silently muttered as she began to kneel ready to jump back into the aircraft when a voice interrupted her train of thought. "Erwin!, we got to go, Prez wants to have a meeting with all of us right now!" exclaimed Caesar at the top of her lungs. Erwin looked at her direction and saw that all the girls started going into their tanks. "I dropped my sandal!" exclaimed Erwin as she tilted her cap over her eyes, trying to cover them from the rays of the scorching sun. "leave it, we'll get it later when we come back. If we are late again, Momo-Chan will drown us in lectures and make us clean our tanks thrice!" snapped Caesar, her red scarf flying vigorously. 'damn, I don't want to leave my sandal' thought Erwin as she glanced back down at it. After a brief moment of contemplating she finally gave up and quickly slid down the hot fuselage as she mumbled to herself. "Damn it all" she puffed as she awkwardly ran back to the StuG which roared to life. She hopped on and slowly went inside as the StuG puffed out a loud plume of smoke as it began to drive along side the rest of the group. She popped out her head as wind began to fly through her blonde hair. "I'm sorry I had to make you rush, but we'll come back after what the Prez has to say." commented Caesar as she looked to a slightly distrusted Erwin. 'I know we will, but now they will know we've trespassed on their bomber; that is if they return from wherever they were sent.' thought Erwin as she crossed her arms and stared forward.

Juan's eyes were completely shut as he drifted off to sleep, his mind beginning to fly away to the land of dreams and memories. As he kept dreaming, his face started to tightened as a voice began to speak to him with a worried tone. "You're going to bring us back home skip? right?" said the voice. Juan then found himself floating in an empty white room as the voice asked the same thing again, and then again. A figure then appeared before Juan, his features beginning to show more clearly as he floated towards him. "Please bring me home Juan, I don't want my mom or dad to worry about me. I want to see their faces of joy when I come back" said the boy as he got closer to Juan. He had short bright red/orange hair with a pale complexion and freckles all over his face. He gave a cocky smile as Juan looked at him, a feeling of despair beginning to crawl all over him as the boy looked straight through Juan with pale green eyes. "I'm glad I got put with you guys, I feel that this will be the beginning of a great friendship" said the boy who continued smiling unblinking. Suddenly four bullets ripped through the boy who was floating in front of Juan, his blood covering him as a loud scream of mortal pain erupted in the air. Within a flash the boy was on the ground in a crumpled position as a large pool of blood was surrounding him. Two hazy figures then quickly appeared kneeling beside the body as a roaring engine hum began to get louder and louder. The figures then turned into a man and a woman weeping heavily as blood came out of their eyes. "LIAR, LIAR, LIAR! "suddenly screamed the couple as they turned to Juan, both of their face's were of the dead boy. Juan suddenly felt panic over take him as a screaming whoosh of a low flying aircraft made the whole presence turn black as Juan found himself floating again, screaming in terror as his body then started to move around in strange ways, as if he was flying. "Juan, Look out, there's one behind your ass, do a split s, I'm on him!" yelled a familiar female voice as Juan heard in the background a rumbling noise, one he was quite familiar with. "That's a Pratt and Whitney R-2800-8" he silently whispered as he opened his eyes and found himself in the cockpit of a corsair. Tracers whizzed by his cockpit as the same voice screamed to Juan, her voice turning into static as he looked above him and saw a fur ball of aircraft dogfighting each other. Juan began to sweat as he tried to grab the control stick, only to feel nothing. "JUAN!" screamed a voice in terror as he looked in front and saw a burning fighter about to ram him. Juan screamed in absolute terror as the planes crashed, which then a fiery explosion covered everything as it quickly turned to black. In the pitch black darkness a voice softly said "Your time will come, it will come soon." Juan immediately woke up breathing heavily and drenched in sweat as his hit the wall with his fist. He started to cry a few tears which disappeared into the sweat as he looked around; he then noticed he was sitting on the floor and Mr. Yamada was standing next to him, glaring him down. He turned his head and saw two police officers standing in front of him, watching over him like statues. Juan looked down and grabbed his hat slowly as he stiffly stood up, wiping sweat laced tears as they started to burn his eyes. Mr. Yamada stood perfectly still as he directed Juan back into the room, his hand out in front of him in a polite gesture. Juan slowly walked in as he put on his crush cap, his eyes quickly darting to the TV which was still on and broadcasting the recap. The door creaked as Mr. Yamada quickly shut it and walked over to his desk. As both members sat down, both of their eyes glanced over the TV as the final results were in and a winner was about to be announced. Juan's heart stopped as he waited for the results, though he couldn't understand a thing, he knew that the flag waiving in the back will mean that country won the match. The screen immediately turned white as both the Japanese rising sun and Stars and Bars popped up with a thin line in the middle as large Japanese text flashed in front of them. "What, what does that mean?" asked Juan with a look of desperate confusion. "Tie" softly said Mr. Yamada with a heavy accent; Juan immediately went into shock as he noticed that the man could speak English. this however quickly dissipated as he mind asked why the match ending in a tie. "How, how is this possible!? I've never been in a single game before where this BS happened? What happened?!' Juan loudly asked as he became slightly agitated, his hands tightening into fists. "Not know much English" said Mr. Yamada as he looked at Juan, his face showing emotions of conflict. "It is because the Japanese teams made a trap for your teams" blurted out the translator. Juan's eyes widened as he opened his mouth and figured out why the fighter escort couldn't make it. 'smart bastards, they learned quick' he though to himself as he kept staring at the TV. His mind quickly went to an event that occurred over a year ago where he witnessed the same tactic used upon the Japanese teams.

"So what does the Prez have to say? asked Erwin as she looked forward as the StuG drove by, dust flying everywhere as it continued with the column. Something about our next practice match" answered Caesar as she leaned forward resting on her arms. "personally, making us meet up on time for a briefing on a practice match is a bit excessive" she added. "Well Momo is Momo, and Prez is always laid back and really wouldn't make us meet up without a few hours in advance. This is strange indeed" commented Erwin as she looked down at her feet. There was a short period of silence between them as the column of tank drove on, all their crews' hanging out of them as they rumbled on. "Do you think Prez might know something about the B-17 that crashed, like where it came from and why did it have battle damage?" suddenly asked Caesar as she quickly looked at Erwin. Erwin took a minute and thought deeply as she looked down at the barrel of their StuG. "Maybe, she does know a lot of things that only the higher ups would know since she is right below them. Plus they do leave us in the dark about most things anyways, so most likely they know about the B-17 and the location of the crew. " she slowly said as she looked at Caesar with a look of curiosity. Caesar's face lit up as her mind immediately pondered something she had forgotten. "Oh yeah, what happened to the crew?" she quickly asked as she looked at Erwin, whose face suddenly tightened. Erwin remained quiet as she thought, looking back at the crew; their faces energetic yet weary and full of nervousness that were imprinted in her memories. "You know about them, don't you?" cautiously asked Caesar as her eyes were trained upon Erwin. Erwin nodded as she didn't break her gaze on Caesar. "Were they girls?" she suddenly asked as her eyes slightly widened with curiosity; Erwin shook her head and bluntly replied "Boys, all of them." "Boys? Japanese boys?" immediately followed Caesar, her red scarf flying wildly. "They were foreign, Americans, all of them" Erwin said as she looked forward again. "Americans." softly whispered Caesar as she looked down to the sunburnt grey paint on their StuG. "Looks like Saori will have a hard time trying to woo them then" she chuckled to herself. A grin slowly grew on Erwin's face as she softly commented "Funny, that's the same thing we thought".


	10. Chapter 10

A strong wave of heat battered the girls as they rode on, sweat beginning to run down their faces as they tried to make jerry-rigged shades out of umbrellas and books, their hair flying as a constant breeze all hit them. "Almost there" loudly said Oryou as she turned right down a street with pedestrians walking by ignoring the loud rumbling that covered the entire neighborhood. Some smiled and waved as the girls went by, replying to the kind gestures with bright smiles. "I always like doing this" smiled Caesar as she waved; "makes me feel like Caesar himself waving upon his subjects in Rome's glory days." Erwin nodded off the comment as she saw the roofs of the large garages that housed their vehicles slowly coming into view, towering above the rows of houses and shops." Alright, you can calm down now Patton" softly said Erwin as she adjusted her cap. Caesar's face tightened as she glanced at Erwin with eyes of annoyance. All of a sudden the rows of houses dissipated as a large glass building came into view with multiple smaller buildings on each side. The tanks rolled into a large dirt covered clearing with four large garages at one end, making a large dust cloud that nearly covered the clearing as all vehicles abruptly stopped, their rumbling quickly ceasing as it echoed away in the distance. Erwin suddenly was hit by a wave of curiosity as the dust cleared revealing a tan colored Hetzer with three girls standing in front, their arms at their sides as they oversaw the column come to a halt. "Perfect, on time; you all should be proud of yourselves!" loudly announced a short haired girl with a monocle that gleamed as the sun's rays reflected off of it. "Now that you're here, we can commence with the planning for our practice match." she followed sternly. The girls disembarked out of their tanks and formed a semi-circle around the student council. As Erwin leaped off her self-propelled gun, she felt the hot dirt under her bare foot which sent a slight pain running to her brain. 'damn, I should have gotten my sandal when I had a chance.' she thought as she awkwardly walked to the line of girls. A hand suddenly rose above in the air as all three girls immediately looked at the person below, their eyes focusing on her with curiosity. " You have a question Ms. Nishizumi?" bluntly asked the girl with the monocle; "Yes" she quickly replied with a concerned tone that channeled her thoughts. "Its about the B-17 that crashed, we are all curious about where the plane came from and what happened to its occupants." The girl stood still as she put her hands behind her back,her face remaining completely calm as she boldly spoke. "As for the bomber, questions regarding the incident may come last after we deal with what is at hand." All the girls instantly looked at the girl, whose calm demeanor was beginning to slightly break as she snapped back at them "What? What are all of you starring at?" Yukari then quickly interrupted and asked with a taunting tone. "So you do know about the B-17 then Momo-chan?" The girl stood still as her face quickly shifted to one that expressed nervousness, her heart beginning to race faster and faster. "Yeah we know about the B-17, but to tell you all the truth I barely found about its origin only a few minutes ago." Instantaneously spoke a small red haired girl as she stepped forward, her eyes glancing at every team that stood in front of her. "So where did it come from Prez!?" asked Yukari, a rush of curiosity overtaking her as she craved to know the answer. The girls silently broke in small chatter between each other as the red haired girl stood proudly with her arms crossed. "if you want to know answers, first you'll have to earn them." she said with a smug look in her face. 'Which brings us to our original focus of this briefing." interrupted Mono as she adjusted her monocle and grabbed a book that was being handed to her by another girl with long brown hair and a soft smile on her face. "Now, as all of you know, we are going to be having a practice match with a fellow school in preparation for the tournaments that will be coming soon." Momo continued as she opened the book and stared down at the pages that were in front of her. A brief moment of silence went through the yard as she looked at the name of the opposing school and the location of the event, her eyes focusing hard upon the text. She looked up at the group and slowly said "our opponents will be Saunders High and we'll be practicing on their grounds." she announced as all the girls looked at each other with gazes of surprise and acknowledgment. 'Saunders?' suddenly thought Erwin as she quickly looked at Yukari who was glancing back at her with a look of complete surpirse. 'This has to be a joke' Erwin thought as she gazed back at the Student Council, her head slightly shaking in disbelief. "Why on their grounds? shouldn't we have it in Ooarai like we usually do?" hastily interrupted Caesar as she raised her hand up to catch the attention of the student council. "We usually do, but since the holidays are coming up and it will be some time until we make port, they asked us if we can have the practice match at their school. Plus they got a new transport helicopter and would like to test it out during the match for quick retrievals of knocked out tanks." said Momo, her gaze swiftly moving to Student President Anzu.

"We will be having the practice match in about three days, so we're sorry if this meeting was a little out of the blue, but they announced to us this information only a few hours ago, along with a peculiar bet." said Anzu with a smug grin. " A bet?" asked the girls in almost perfect unison; their eyes focusing on the short girl. "We never do bets between other schools; this is strange" commented a thin girl with long black hair. "I know Ms. Hana, but they were quite clear with this bet, and I'm still surprised how they found out about it so fast." the president followed with a conflicted voice. "so, what was the bet?" addressed Miho as the rest of the girls turned their attention to the three girls in the middle. The student president held her tongue for a few moments as she tried to word the odd wager; "They said whoever wins.. the match...will.. get to spend the holidays with the boys of the B-17...". Every girl suddenly jumped with surprise as their eyes widen with surprise, their mouths opening with shock as their hearts raced. "Boys!? o-on this ship?!" loudly asked Saori, her eyes darting in every direction as she felt slight panic beginning to reach her. "Looks like you finally have a chance to show us your moves on how to pick up a guy" chuckled a small, sleepy girl with messy hair that nearly covered her face. "I can't meet them like this, I'm a mess, my hair, my choice of clothing!" quickly said Saori as she looked at herself. "Have you seen them yourself Prez?" asked a group of girls wearing Volleyball uniforms at the edge of the circle. "I only saw one; he was sitting down in front of Mr. Yamada's door when I was called to speak to him." said Anzu as she looked up trying to remember the individual. "What was he like? Did he have a cute face?" quickly asked another girl." I couldn't see, his head was down and his hair covered his face; along with that he had two police officers watching over him." she followed. " He's dangerous? maybe he's a criminal" said a few girls as chatter began to escalate again. "we shouldn't have told them about the incident" expressed Momo with regret. "No, this is fine. Every team has to go through a trail every now and then to see if they are well trained to fight with their minds clouded." uttered the student president as she gazed upon the group of girls as they talked to each other, laughing and giggling their thoughts away.

" I don't want to do this Joe" said Erik, his voice trembling with fear. "You're going to do it if you like it or not" snapped Joe as he looked at Erik, his sights set on the individual. " I do not consent to this" replied Erik who was quickly interrupted by Joe; "I don't care, we're doing this ok, in front of everybody so they can watch". Erik shook his head multiple times as he said "No, you're going to make this last for hours man" Joe bit his lip and slowly said with a gentle tone. "No, its not going to last very long and it wont hurt man. " Erik thought a minute as his mind raced trying to come up with a response. "Alright, does four minutes sound good then?" Joe's face tightened as he barked "Four minutes?! No way, that's way too short. Juan put me in charge here and we are going through with this alright?" " I said no man, I don't want to do it" "Fine then, we'll start off with Doc, but your getting a turn too no matter what; alright Doc, tell us something interesting about yourself." spoke Joe with a calm tone. "Fucking hell" silently muttered Erik under his breath. "I didn't want to do this shit when classes started and I sure as hell don't want to do it here" he followed. "Well, its been about two hours or so since they took Skip, and time is crawling painfully slow to the point where I'm considering suicide is a better option; Brock's got me" said Joe with a playful tone as he looked at Brock who immediately followed while quickly taking off his bet "Yeah I got you big boy, this thing is strong enough for 10 suicides!" Brock pulled out the belt in front of him and pulled it, making a cracking snap as he smiled. 'How'd I get winded up with you all?' thought Erik as he kept staring at the belt. After some time his mind began to ponder if the belt was strong enough.

"So we will split the group into two teams; team 1 will be Ooarai while team 2 will be portraying Saunders" loudly announced Momo as she looked down at her book and began calling out team names. "Team 1 will consist of Anglerfish Team, Duck Team, Mallard Team and Leopon Team. Team 2 will consist of Turtle Team, Hippo Team, Rabbit Team and Anteater Team, any questions?" All the girls looked at each other and shook their heads in agreement as they glanced back at Momo-chan who then quickly added "Alright then, since we have no questions then, shall we commence then?" She looked at Anzu who nodded her head in agreement; "right then, Panzer Vor!" echoed the bold words through the yard. A rumbling of engines breathing life engulfed the air as plumes of smoke erupted from rusted and burnt exhaust tubes as each engine gave off a different tune to sing towards the melody of tankery. "Who will be the flag tank?" asked Caesar as she stepped on the hull of the StuG; "I'm not sure, but I got a feeling today will be an interesting practice run" Erwin replied as she gave a smug grin. 'how so?' Caesar thought as she kept looking at Erwin with a look of confusion. "Plus we need to go back and get my sandal, I'm getting tired limping and hoping around on one foot" Erwin hastily added as she stepped inside the vehicle. Within moments all tanks took off in their groups and headed towards the forest, clanking and rumbling down streets full of happy people as they waved and smiled at the girls. "So what will be the plan?" asked Caesar with curiosity as she glanced at Erwin, her mind drifting away in thoughts of flying in the bright blue sky. Erwin looked at Caesar and saw that she had a smug grin that stretched ear to ear. "Why are you looking at me like that?" quickly asked Erwin with a nervous tone; " I know what you're thinking about, you can't hide anything from me!" exclaimed Caesar with a cold tone. "Oh yeah, what about those snacks I hid?" sarcastically asked Erwin. Caesar replied with a blank look on her face as Erwin softly said" That's right, they've been hidden for almost two months now" "Where?" rapidly asked Caesar; traces of eagerness hidden behind the question. Erwin looked at her and gave a smug grin as she said with a cocky tone "You said it yourself, I cant hide anything from you".

After a while driving through the city, Team 2 finally made it to the point where they were instructed to begin the mock match. The sky was a bright light blue as clouds of all shapes and sizes were painted with different hues of white that contrasted each other sharply. The trees slightly swayed to the mercy of the gentle wind that whistled a tone as it passed through leaves and branches. The natural orchestra was quickly over run by the ugly rumbling of engines as they idled, waiting to scream with all their might when the order to move was announced. Erwin and Caesar stood tall, their arms crossed in front of their chests as they waited, faces of determination written on their faces. A tense feeling of nervousness and eagerness were mixed within all the girls as all looked at Student Council President Anzu as she held a thin bar with a colored flag at the end. "Who would like to volunteer to be the flag tank?" she boldly asked as she waved the flag high above her head. All the girls looked at each other as silence covered the field; "If nobody will volunteer, then a volunteer will be chosen by us" suddenly said Momo as she adjusted her monocle. Again all the girls looked at each other in silence for a brief moment until Momo announced "very well, our lucky volunteer will be Hippo team since they did a wonderful job protecting our flag when we versed Anzio for the first time, I think they can do it again. Erwin's eyes widen as she heard the announcement, her gaze quickly shifting to Anzu as she was walking up to the StuG. She climbed on it with a graceful step and stuck the pole in a tube that was on the hull; the flag flying proudly on the dark grey self propelled gun. She then looked at the crew and gave a thumbs up as she confidently smiled. Anzu then quickly turned around and jumped off the StuG as both Erwin and Caesar looked at each other with faces of disappointment. " So what will be our pan when we encounter Miropin's group? " suddenly asked a slender girl with thick glasses that completely obscured her eyes. The student president stood still as she looked at the girl and put her hand under her chin and thought deeply, her mind erasing all of her surroundings. "Since we are versing our very own brilliant tactician, anything we come up with she'll be able to counter within a second, so in order to have a chance, we'll have to be creative as well. Hippo team, you and us will be joint commanders in this fight. Your knowledge of tactics used in history will come in quite useful and we'll have to combine a lot of different tactics in order to counter Miho. This is very unorthodox, but that's what makes this school's Sensha-Do team a formidable foe." Anzu proudly said as she over looked all the girls who were outside their tanks, all staring back at her with eyes and faces full of determination and pride. A flare suddenly shot up into the sky in the distance, its bright white burning glow shining clearly as smoke quickly showed the flare fall down, disappearing into the forest. "Yuzu" said Momo calmly as she nodded at the brown haired girl who had a flare gun and pointed it into the blue sky. She firmly pressed the trigger as her hand took the recoil of the pistol; a bright flare shot straight into the heavens as all eyes gazed upon it as it slowly started to fall back down. "Alright then everybody, PANZER VOR!" yelled Anzu as every engine in the area started to roar to life.

"Mr. Yamada says he has good news and bad news." said the interpreter as Juan looked back at the computer. "What is it?" he slowly said, sleep beginning to crawl over him as he felt a wave of fatigue suddenly hit him. His mind had enough, after watching the heartbreaking results and the nightmares that were increasing; he felt weak. The man spoke again, his tone changing drastically softer as he continued. He finally stopped and after a few moments of strange silence the woman spoke again. "Mr. Yamada said he had contacted officials at the GAC, and they informed him that you had to do something first. Juan slowly sat upright as his face slightly tensed up and his eyes narrowed; "What?" he asked in an annoyed tone. "They said you had to confirm the current status of the crew" Itsuko announced. "Fuck" softly said Juan under his breathe, a mood of annoyance and anger hitting him like a bat. "I have been shown a list of names, and I will say them and you will answer the status of each member as either living or deceased." continued the interpreter. "After that, Mr. Yamada will continue with the news he has saved for you. Juan's eyes locked straight to the man and the laptop that was on the desk. He bowed his head and rolled his hand as a gesture to carry on, his body slightly slouching into the chair. Itsuko started with a stern tone and a heavy accent, " Erik Brooker, ,age sheventeen; status?" Juan combed his hair with his hand as he took a deep breath and looked up, his tone sounding irritated as he bluntly replied "Alive" The woman continued; "Rick Polanski, age sheventeen; status?" Juan took another deep breath as his tone got more irritated, "Alive". "Juan Rodriguez, age sheventeen; status?" "Are you serious, I'm right in front of ya'll, are we seriously doing this?" asked Juan, anger and annoyance running intensely with each word. "This is GAC protocol, we have to do it. It seems like you GAC members are nothing more than a bunch of loathing sloths and idiots who do not care about regulations and protocol." suddenly said the woman with a aggravating tone. 'I swear I will cuss out this bitch if she says something like that again.' Juan thought to himself, his teeth grinding as he mustered a fake smile. The room fell silent again as the constant hum of the fan continued and the low muffle of the TV harmonized into one. "If it will help then, I will announce all the remaining names and you will point out the ones that are causalities, is this okay?" suddenly asked Itsuko; Mr. Yamada's eyes quickly shifted to Juan, his eyebrows falling right over his eyes in a studying gaze. "Sure, if it'll move it quickly, sure" replied Juan as he put his right foot over his left knee and sat crossed legged. The woman cleared her throat and started again. "Joe Buzzby, age hateteen; Chris Pines, age sixteen; Replacement , Brock Perez, age seventeen." Juan sat silently still, his head resting on his hand as he heard every single one of his crew being called out. "Replacement, James Loi , age sixteen; Replacement, Chuck West, age sixteen; Replacement, Tony Clark, age ateteen; Thomas Felton, age eighteen" suddenly finished the interpreter, slight breathing came from the laptop as she tried to catch her breath. "That's all of them, none of them had died" blurted out Juan with frustration. Mr. Yamada nodded in acceptance as Itsuko once again spoke" Now that we have that out of the way, we can continue with the news. The good news is Mr. Yamada contacted the officials at the GAC and said that survivors of a match had landed on his carrier. They told him that the causality report had already been filed and that one bomber had been 'MIM'(Missing in match) and that earlier today they officially marked it as DIM(Destroyed in match)" Juan leaned forward in interest, his eyes narrowing in curiosity. "The bad news, all American teams and their staff have been sent back this morning back to the United States". Juan's eyes widen immediately after the final sentence had finished, his heart sinking with anger and sadness over taking him. ' Not even bothering checking what happened to us?' he thought with fury burning in his eyes. His mind raced quickly as multiple thoughts flooded his brain, thoughts of hatred and violence which were quickly over ruled by thoughts of clearer judgement. Juan's eyes slowly cleared as he kept thinking, his mind being lost in a sea of different thoughts all colliding and combining at once. "Mr. Rodriguez, right?" slowly spoke the interpreter. Juan's eyes lazily focused back at the desk, only to be met back with dark brown piercing eyes of Mr. Yamada. "Since all of your team has left, Mr. Yamada decided that you and your crew will stay on board the ship until they dock at their home port, from there tickets will be ready for a trip back to the United States" calmly said Itsuko, her tone softly changing. Silence once again consumed the room as Juan took in every single word, his eyes focusing on the laptop as he nonchalantly asked, "And how long will that be?" The woman spoke to Mr. Yamada who quickly responded with a short reply. As soon as he finished she said "two weeks". Juan felt something hit him with a tremendous force, his heart skipped a beat as his mouth opened with shock. A surge of anger started brewing within, his eyes narrowing as he closed his mouth, gritting his teeth.

"What?!, what do you mean you can't see them?" loudly asked Erwin as she grabbed her throat mic. "They should be there; mmm, they must have took a different route then" she added with frustration. " Any luck?" curiously asked Anzu as she stuck her head out of the Hezter. " No Prez, seems like Miho is a step ahead of us" Erwin replied with a distressed tone. "Do you have a map of the forest?" asked Anzu as she looked at Erwin, her eyes hidden by her cap's visor. "yeah, Saemonza also drew a map of possible strategic points where Miho might use. We evaluated it and added our own points as well. proudly said Erwin as she grabbed a worn and half torn map with some parts held together with clear tape that shined in the sun. The president jumped out of the Hezter , quickly followed by Momo as they quickly hopped on the StuG and glanced at both articles. Erwin outstretched the worn map as she placed a large sheet of paper that was covered with circles and X's of different shapes and colors. Anzu looked with horror as she laid her eyes on the equation of shapes that dominated the drawing. "Are you saying that literally every part of the forest Miho can use to her advantage?" quickly asked Momo as she adjusted her monocle. "Well, we thought of many battles in history that could possible fit in our situation, like The battle of the Bugle and the battle of Pharsalus for example." interrupted Caesar as she leaned over to look at the maps. Anzu thought as she glanced at every single drawing and mark and thought extensively about each location. "Well, this part of the woods wont work for both sides since the trees are so close together not even the type 89 can fit, so this location can be marked out." confidently said Anzu as she motioned for a marker. Erwin grabbed a black marker that she pulled from a small case and gave it to the Student council president, who then quickly popped it open and drew a single line over the location. Erwin and Caesar looked with expressions of confusion as Anzu kept marking out location after location. "Erwin, where did you send our scout at?" she suddenly asked as she raised her gaze at Erwin. Erwin hesitated for a moment and quickly shook her head as she snapped out of a trance. "here, about five klicks out, here" she said as she pointed to a location with her finger. Anzu studied the position that was under Erwin's finger and thought of multiple scenarios that could happen. "Miho's group stared here, the other side of the forest. My best guess is that they might go through this path here, which I've circled in red" Erwin boldly announced as she gently moved her finger across a clear path on the map. "Mmm, I don't think Miho will take this path because it seems too exposed" interrupted Anzu as she kept glancing over the map. "tell the Rabbit team to move to this location without causing a ruckus; I believe we might have a better view of this whole area here if they moved" slowly said the president as her eyes bounced to every corner of the map." And if we're lucky, Miho would have thought the same thing" she added as she hopped off the self propelled gun. Erwin and Caesar quickly looked at Anzu with looks of bewilderment as she smiled. "Now the fun game of cat and mouse can begin; we will see who will be the cat and who will be the mouse" Erwin and Caesar looked at each other as Momo jumped off and followed The president; she then hastily turned around and loudly announced with a stern tone" Tell the scout we will be moving ahead now and to keep a constant guard, we know how sneaky Miho can get, for all we know she could be watching us right now!"

Erwin nodded as she grabbed her mic and order the scout to advance to a new position, all the while she was glancing at the map and checking for other potential targets. "I've never fully understood how tough it would be to lead a team and make up plans, and watching over them" she said as she kept looking at the map, "Miho is a natural leader" she added, a grin softly appearing on her face. "So where do you think we should move to?" asked Caesar as she looked at the map with great interest. Erwin remained silent as she looked where the group was currently at; "I think here would be a good place to advance to". Caesar looked at the position where Erwin pointed her finger at and observed the area. "yeah, it seems like a favorable place" she nodded in agreement. "Alright, all tanks move out!" loudly said Erwin, her hand raised high in the air as she moved it forward in a single swoop. A loud thundering quickly followed as all tanks slowly started moving forward, screeching and rumbling as they advanced. A peaceful breeze rolled in, rustling trees and grass as both parties advanced to their planned locations. The bright yellow sun slowly moved to its daily position announcing that late afternoon was commencing. Clouds of dust flew in every direction as the Panzer IV rushed ahead, being quickly followed by two tanks on each side and one tank in the middle, which on its hull rested a long pole with a bright flag at the top. "Miporin, do you think that team 2 will be at the location that you suggested?" asked Yukari as she looked at Miho. Miho's soft eyes fell upon Yukari as she looked at her friend. "yes, I believe so because it seems like a good location I would use, the height advantage is excellent. However, I want to try to lure them away so we could ambush them and take out the flag tank. Once we reach the edge of this path, I will send a scout to explore the area and be an early warning in case the enemy does something unexpected". "The day is still quite young" added Yukari as she grabbed a shell. Miho nodded as she popped open the cupola's hatch and glared down the dusty path, her eyes scanning the horizon of the forest as trees whizzed by, the loud rumbling of their tanks dissipating within the foliage.


	11. Chapter 11

(I'm Sorry if I'm taking too long to release my chapters, but things always get in my way and sometimes I don't even touch the story in days and hallway through my Pc crashed and lost half of my chapter, which almost made me give up on this and I'm sorry if it doesn't make sense in the end)

There was a calm feeling within the tank, all eyes focusing straight ahead down the dirt path. Their minds however, were not in sync with the same thoughts, thoughts that could be so vital if a situation appeared. "You're awfully quiet today Saori, what's on your mind?" gently asked Miho as she sat back down into the commander's seat. The orange haired girl was in a deep thought as the words suddenly hit her and she quickly turned her head towards Miho, her eyes as large as plates. "oh, um nothing" she hastily replied, her eyes darting to every direction of the tank interior to avoid the question. "She's thinking of boys" silently and bluntly said the small sleepy girl as she kept driving the Panzer IV. "No I'm not Mako!" swiftly retorted Saori as she turned towards the driver. After a few moments of silence, she slowly began to speak, her tone full of embarrassment. "I mean, I'm curious how they look like. Like what if they look like those cute foreign boys on TV dramas, with their soft defined faces, their soft hair and enchanting voices". At that moment she imagined herself in the arms of a tall, handsome American boy as he said in fluent Japanese" Saori, why hasn't any boy asked you out to be his girl?" She shook her head as said" I'm not pretty enough" Her man of her dreams shook his head and said with a cocky grin "Maybe cause they couldn't compete against me" he then leaned in to kiss her as Yukari suddenly interrupted Saori's daydream. "This isn't a time to be thinking about boys, we have to think about the match, right Miporin?" asked Yukari as she turned to Miho. She remained silent as she thought, her gentle eyes not leaving sight of Saori. She suddenly smiled and gently said; "To be honest, that thought has also crossed my mind a few times, but like Yukari said, we need to focus on the match first" Saori lowered her gaze in shame as she apologized with a sad tone, " I'm sorry, I hope I don't affect the match". Miho kept looking at Saori as she began to feel pity on herself. "Its okay, don't feel bad. We can discus about the boys after the match, alright?" softly said Miho as Saori lifted her gaze. She looked at her commander and saw her smiling back at her; "Okay, ill try my hardest" Saori proudly said. Miho kept smiling as she stuck her body out again of the cupola and looked around. The path was coming to an end as all tanks slowly started to stop as they approached a clearing. There was a three way interstation with an old wooden pole at the end of the path, its signs long rotted away leaving behind the somber piece of wood. There were trees and undergrowth behind the pole that seemed to stretch for miles in either direction, covering all visible traces of the geography. The tanks all stopped as slight dust clouds rose from their sides; all hatches screeching open and clanking against the metal hulls of the tanks, all girls looking at their surroundings and then at Miho. "Where to now?" suddenly asked Yukari as she looked up to Miho, whose eyes were staring straight ahead at the old pole. She then quickly went back into the tank and came out holding a map and a compass. She then neatly placed them on the red-brown colored roof and quickly inspecting them, her finger slowly tracing over their path. As the girls were in their little world, a short, brown haired girl snuck behind a thick tree in the forest in front of Miho's group and laid down next to it, her binoculars quickly scanning the area as she located the tank formation. Her eyes scanned the group and saw Miho and her crew sitting outside the Panzer, all looking at the turret roof. As she moved the binoculars, she saw the flagpole of the carrier tank and glanced down, only to be covered by the Panzer IV. She slightly grit her teeth as she kept looking, "Senpai was right then" she thought to herself as she kept looking through the glasses. Suddenly Yukari and Miho looked at the girl's general direction, their eyes seeming to study the branches of the forest. She quickly put away the binoculars and held her breath as seconds slowly passed by, her eyes staring right at Miho and Yukari. After what seemed like an eternity, all the girls nodded their heads and got back into their tanks as a loud rumbling echoed through the woods as they slowly started moving and turning left down the path. The girls quickly grabbed her binocs and looked though them as the Panzer IV turned, completely exposing the flag tank to the girls peeping eyes. "Duck team then" she surprisingly remarked as the group hastily moved on and disappeared in a cloud of dust. The girl quickly got up and started running back into the forest. She kept running as speckles of light danced on her body, mixing with the shadows of the leaves. She then came upon a bright clearing as the sun's rays blasted on a grassy field where parked in the middle was a dark olive drab M3 Lee with a pink bunny wielding knives painted on its hull, branches covering the tank in rough patches. All the hatches were open and five girls were standing and sitting around, enjoying the bright afternoon sun. "Azusa is back!" yelled a girl with wide glasses that seemed to reflect the sun's rays in every direction. "What did you see?" another girl curiously asked. The girl looked at her teammate with a slight grin on her face; "I found them, exactly where Senpai said they would be. Duck team is the flag carrier, Yuuki can you contact the commanders?" A small girl nodded her head as she hastily hopped back into the Lee and turned on the radio set. Azusa followed behind her as the girl got the frequency of their team.

"You saw something in the woods too right?" asked Yukari as she turned towards Miho. " I think I did, and if its what I think it is, Team 2 knows our location and our heading" said Miho softly, her mind thinking of multiple ways to counter Team 2. "The high ground is about six clicks ahead, but there is a couple of paths that lead up to it. We have to find out what path team 2 is taking, so we can ambush them by setting up a defensive perimeter." she added. Yukari looked up at her friend and slowly said " And if they make it to the location before we do?"; her tone full of doubt and curiosity. Miho quickly looked at Yukari, her eyes focusing on her friend. She remained quiet as she thought deeply, finally breaking the silence after a few moments with a confident grin "Then we'll see what we will do then".

"How long have we been in here man?" slowly asked Brock, his eyes staring at Joe who was standing next to the window and trying to enjoy the outside view. A loud grumbling noise echoed throughout the cell as Joe looked down at his stomach. "I don't know, but however long we've been in here, the real question is why haven't these bastards given us anything to eat." At that moment four officers walked in front of the bars, each holding small boxes that were stacked on top of each other. All nine boys looked at them with curious eyes. One of the guards had a worried look upon his face as he tried to fumble in his pocket, his hand trying hard to pull something out. Joe noticed this, his mind quickly shifting to multiple ideas of what it could be. After a struggle, the guard pulled out a bundle of keys that clinked and clanked as they hit each other on the ring they were connected to. All eyes quickly turned to the keys, much to the distress of the four officers. Joe looked at all of the boys, who in returned looked at him with looks of nervousness and self restraint. The officer put the boxes on the ground and started flipping through keys to find the correct one; he was in his mid 30's and based on his fumbling through the keys, hadn't much experience being an officer. After what seemed like hours, he slightly smiled when he picked a key and held it in front of his face. He then followed by slowly putting it in the keyhole of the barred door, which made a metallic click. He then turned to the other three officers, who looked back at him with faces of concern and fear. Without a clue, he then turned the key; the lock clicked open. All nine boys stayed where they were sitting or standing, their eyes focused on the one officer who then kneeled and picked up the boxes. The three others slightly swayed back as the door slowly opened as the lonely officer entered the cell. He looked at the boys that were on all sides of the cell, their eyes glaring at him and the open door. Chris slowly positioned himself towards the door, as if he was about to bolt out of the jail cell. At that moment the other three officers stood in front of the open door, forming a wall. There was an intense feeling of nervousness and tension in the cell as the officer stopped in the middle of the cell, his eyes glancing at the boys and the boxes that he was carrying. He slowly kneeled and softly dropped the boxes on the floor; all eyes now staring down the boxes in the middle of the cell. He looked up moved his gaze towards James who was sitting down in front of him. With glaring eyes James looked back at the officer, his eyes quickly shifting to the stacked boxes with a curious intent. The officer noticed this and grabbed one of the boxes, placing his hand on the side and slowly opening the top of the box to reveal the contents. Steam poured out of the box which had rice and different meats that were fried, with vegetables in the corner of the box. James' eyes widen as his stomach began to growl, which was suddenly followed by a crescendo of loud growls as a pleasant smell of warm food covered the cell in a warm blanket of blissful joy. The officer shook the box towards James, motioning it for him to grab it. Without hesitation, James slowly moved over to the officer, their eyes locked as he got closer and closer. he then looked at the box, his instincts urging him to snatch it out of the man's hands. He reached out and slowly grabbed it, his hands feeling the warm plastic as he held it so dearly. The officer motioned for the other to grab some, which they did without a second thought, growing smiles stretching across their faces as they each grabbed a box. The rest of the officer slowly entered the cell and offered their boxes as each boy grabbed one. "these aren't the violent criminals we met earlier Hiroji" whispered one officer to his co-worker. The other officer looked back at him and calmly replied "That's because humans are humans, we are very unpredictable". As the guys ate happily away, Doc suddenly thought of something that slipped his mind. Slowly he asked as she looked up from his bento box; "Uh, hey guys? Do any of ya'll know if they give these meals in jails? Cause I know back home they give prisoners school food pretty much" At that moment the rest of them stopped and looked at their boxes with curious eyes. "Now that you mention it, I think Japanese jails and prisons give their inmates the same food too." commented Rick as he used his chopsticks and started moving his food in small circles as he continued to think. "Then why did they give us this then?" immediately asked Chris "Does that mean we aren't prisoners?" Everybody then looked at Chris, all wide eyed as they let the question sink into their minds.

The StuG carried on with its small formation as they drove down a dusty path, all eyes scanning the horizon and surroundings for any possible ambush sites. "Hey Erwin, did you think it was odd that the Prez knows so much about the terrain and best possible areas to strike. She crossed out like half of the locations we marked on there, and some I personally thought were pretty good." asked Caesar as she grabbed the map again and stared down at all the crossed out circles and X's. Erwin looked back at Caesar with a look of curiosity, her eyes quickly shifting back onto the road; "It does seem odd that she did that, and her knowledge as well, however I can say this, we don't know that much about Prez, maybe she has more things she's hidden from us." "Senpai, Senpai, we found them!" unexpectedly yelled an energetic voice on the radio. Erwin grabbed her throat mic and tried to hide back her enthusiasm as she hastily asked a burning question that she dearly wanted to know. "Where, where did you spot them?!" There was silence after she asked, her heart slightly racing as her desire of knowledge took over her mind. "we spotted them about 4 miles west from the big hill, but they are heading towards it as we speak" suddenly said Azusa calmly. Erwin and Caesar looked at each other and then quickly at the map as they tried to find the hill. Erwin grabbed her mic and ordered for all tanks to stop as they tried to figure out where they were; a large cloud of dust covered the path as all tanks halted. Out of the Hetzer popped out the president as she unplugged her headset and jumped off the light tank destroyer. She then hopped on the StuG and with a cocky grin on her face she asked "So what's going on? Any luck?" "Uh, yes Prez, our scout has found the enemy team here and she said that they are going towards the big hill down this path right here." confidently said Erwin as she moved her finger down a small line on the map that was leading to a large colored blob. Anzu looked at the map and glanced at their position and the heading of Team 1. "mmm, alright, so what do you think Erwin, what is your plan to attack them?" she asked as she kept staring at the map. Erwin slightly jumped to the unexpected question. "Uh, well, uh we could call Rabbit Team to meet us up and attack Team 1 with a full force instead of three tanks." said Erwin, slight doubt ridden in her words. "Damn it Erwin, why didn't you think of an attack plan yet?" she asked herself. "It is quite surprising we found Team 1 this quickly, I feel that Miho has something good up her sleeve." said Anzu as she looked up towards Erwin and Caesar who both had serious looks on their faces. "I think we should have our scout follow them and see if they can get Miho off guard." said the Prez. "It might be too risky, what if Miho saw them?" calmly asked Caesar. "We need to come up with something" suddenly blurted out Erwin, nervousness in every word. "each minute we waste is giving Team 1 a greater advantage over us; we'll move out and think of something on the way, hopefully by the time we encounter Team 1 we have a plan." she added. Caesar and Anzu looked at her, their eyes unmoving from the blonde haired girl. After a few moment, they both nodded as Anzu jumped of the StuG. "Looks like we are becoming more like Saunders by each passing minute" she thought walking back to the Hetzer.

"We are nearly to the hill" softly said Mako, the small girl seeming to dove off to sleep as she drove the metal beast that screeched and clanked. Miho popped out of the cupola and saw in the distance a hill with a slight flat top that rose above the sea of tree tops. "Mako, please stop at the end of the road when we get there" said Miho as she held her throat mic. The group slowly went forward as the end of the road appeared before them, which had a fork with many paths intersecting it. There was a post in the middle with multiple signs that had writing on them pointing out different paths to lead out of the forest, with two leading to the hill. "This is where we will try to ambush Team 2" said Miho with a serious tone, her eyes scanning the edges of the forest for perfect places to hide the tanks. "Two hatches clanked open as Yukari and a girl with black, silk like hair, sat at each side of the turret, looking around at the vegetation and trees that covered the undergrowth in a black cloak. "where do you think might be a good position to ambush them Hana?" asked Miho as she looked down at her friend. She looked around at the forest edges and focused on certain areas as she squinted her eyes. " I think that place right there might be good, but the trees aren't too close together to provide much cover, but perfect to get clear shots." she pointed. Miho glanced at the area and nodded her head in agreement. 'So what's the plan then Miho?" curiously asked Yukari as she looked at Miho who was still glancing around. "We will split the group into two parts, one covering each path. The opposite team will have to choose one path, and when they do we will surround them from both ends" commented Miho as she looked at both trails, her mind placing imaginary tanks in defensive positions. "What will we call it?" added Yukari as she began to get excited. Miho softly smiled at her friend and thought deeply. "Um, Let's call it Operation Snake Eater" she promptly said. Both girls looked at her with expressions of confusion written on each of their faces; "Snake Eater?" asked Yukari with a confused tone. Miho nodded as she explained "Yes, Snake Eater because we will be the snake's mouth and the opposing team with be the food, so we will be like a snake eating." Yukari and Hana looked at each other still confused, trying to figure out the odd choice of name; "So then, lets commence Operation Snake Eater" said Miho as she looked at her crewmates, who both looked at her with fresh expressions of confidence. She grabbed a pair of binoculars and grabbed her throat mic; her eyes looked at every tank that was beside them and with a proud tone she said "Panzer Vor!"

The tanks stared moving again as the group split into two smaller groups consisting of two each, with one heading down one path and the other heading down the other path. After a short period they both hid themselves in the forest, each group covering their vehicles with branches and flora. "We're Ready over here" silently said a voice on the radio. "Leopon Team and Mallard teams are ready Miho" said Saori as she kept adjusting the dials at her station. Miho nodded as she peeked out of her cupola and stared at the bright dusty path. The tanks were well hidden under the branches of the trees that were above them, covering them with a dark shadow that blended the outlines of the tanks with the background of the dark forest. "Yukari, is the gun loaded?" said Miho,her sights not straying off the paths. "Yes Miporin, I have the next in my hands" answered Yukari with a cocky girn. "Hana, be ready when I give the word" added Miho; "Understood" agreed Hana as she closed one of her eyes as she aimed down her gun sight, a feeling of tension growing on her;Her demeanor showing the exact opposite of what she was feeling. There was a silence within the tank as everybody waited for the moment the opposing team will show up over the horizon. Moments turned into excruciating minutes as everybody kept waiting, the late afternoon heat bearing down hard on the awaiting fighters. "What if they are on top of the hill already?" suddenly asked Saori; "I don't think so, they would have fired upon us when we arrived here" replied Miho as she looked down into the tank, he eyes immediately shifting at Saori who was wearing a metal headset, her glasses slightly enlarging her eyes. "Contacts, straight ahead of us" abruptly said Hana as she stared down her sight. Miho quickly stuck her head out of the cupola and observed the situation through her binoculars. In the distance, down two paths began to emerge dust clouds that seemed to get larger and larger as they got closer to Miho's position. "This is going to be simple" silently commented Yukari as she eyed the breech of the Panzer's cannon. Miho's heart began to race as she kept glaring down the dust clouds, her mind beginning to think of different attack strategies that could be used in the quickly approaching battle.

"So two weeks then? That's how long it will take this ship to dock at your home port?" asked Juan, his tone slowly changing to one of assurance. Like how the past hours went, there was a brief silence before the interpreter spoke, translating word for word what he said, or at least he hoped it was word for word. The man nodded in reply to Juan's question. The man suddenly spoke, his tone sounding a bit lighter than to what Juan was used to hearing. The woman spoke as soon as he finished, Juan listening, his ears fixating on the woman's voice. " Mr. Yamada has said that you and your crew will have housing and spending money for the time you will be staying". Juan's eyebrows lifted high above as he repeated what the woman said; "We.. we will have housing and spending money?" The man nodded in agreement, knowing what the question was about due to Juan's face of confusion. "Along with that, he also said you all may interact with the students as well". Juan's mouth slightly opened as his face completely distorted in confusion. "What? Wait wait wait... so you're saying that we will be able to freely live on this ship until it docks? I mean I know we are too far for pickup, but I thought we were going to rot in the jail you through us in, which makes me ask as well why did you do that if in the end you were going to let us live in a house!?" Juan slightly moved forward in his chair, his heart pounding, his voice full of agitation. All of a sudden, the man slowly stood up from his chair and said something to the woman on the laptop. She replied and spoke to Juan with a professional tone, the same tone she displayed during the whole debriefing; " It was a pleasure interpreting for you , I hope we will be able to see you and your whole crew very soon Mr. Rodriguez." With that there was a beep and then nothing but silence followed. 'What did she mean by that?' Juan thought to himself as she glanced at the man. Mr. Yamada slowly closed the laptop and walked to the edge of the desk, his hands burrowing deep into his pockets. He looked down at the floor, with heavy words he slowly and roughly spoke. "I...I had nefyou in G.A.C." Juan's eyes widen as he asked with complete surprise, completely dumbstruck at what he just heard. "You speak English?" Mr. Yamada turned around and held out his hand, his index finger and thumb parallel to each other, showing that he only knew a little. "Then, why are you speaking English now? Why not to continue using the interpreter?" added Juan as he kept staring. The man narrowed his eyes on the Mexican; "personal" he roughly spoke. Juan slowly leaned forward, his elbows on his knees giving his undivided attention to the man that was standing a few feet away from him.

Mr. Yamada noticed this and continue with his explanation. " He was fifth highest hace in Japan; Me and my sister were proud of him. My sister was in debt, and he joined to help. He put himself in...dan..danger to help his mother." Juan glanced at Mr. Yamada's face and noticed a tear began to run down his cheek; "Howevar, he..died five yeers ago after fighting German school. He barley was entering manhood when he was killed". Juan saddened a bit when the words hit him, his mind imagining what the boy's mother went through after hearing her son was killed; the same thing most families go through when they hear that their sons wont be coming home ever again. A heavy feeling hit Juan as he felt his heart sink, imaging what his parents would feel when they hear he bit the dust 25'000 feet in the freezing sky. "That ish why I am being so nice to you, I know what you boys go through and I want to give you some break from your gamesh. You will have house and yen, and you can talk to the girls, but do not go more than that, or I will assign guards to all of you." the man spoke as he swiftly wiped the tear from his face. Juan looked up at him, his eyes bright pink as tears began to form; "Thank you, thank you very much Mr. Yamada, I am very grateful for this". The man softly smiled, walking towards Juan who still had tears in his eyes. He then placed his hand on Juan's shoulder and happily said with a pure grin "Enjoi life, for we onry have thish moment"


	12. Chapter 12

(Sorry to all that were waiting for this chapter, things got in the way and still are)

"I almost see them" calmly said Hana as she kept aiming down the periscope, her eye squinting as she saw the tops of dark objects appear in front of the dust storm. "Hold steady Hana" softly spoke Miho peering through her periscope "Wait until we see the flag carrier, that's our primary target". Hana slightly nodded, her focus unmoving. Tension began to slowly build up within the tank; anxiety taking over every girl as they waited to see the enemy to show themselves in full glory to the awaiting guns. "I see the flag, its on the left path!" excitedly said someone over the intercom; all eyes quickly shifting to the left path. A bright flag slowly started to appear on the horizon, which was then followed by a thin metal pole that seemed to be buried in the Earth. Inch by inch, a dirty dark grey StuG came over the horizon, quickly followed by two other vehicles that were slightly hidden in the StuG's dust wake. "Hippo team is our target, each other team pick your targets and announce them when you have them in your sights" sternly said Miho as she slightly gripped her throat mic tighter. Moments quickly went by, sweat slowly running down each girls forehead as they announced who was going to fire on who. "We got the lone tank going down the right path, seems to be Rabbit team." announced a voice. "We'll get the one on the right of the flag carrier". said another; "we'll get the left!" agreed the last girl. "Alright, all tanks hold fire until I say when to open up, understood?" ordered Miho in her soft tone; "alright" spoke the radio as all voices agreed in unison.

"We are coning upon the crossroads, the hill is dead ahead" said Erwin as she looked through her mounted periscope. "Any sign of Team 1" cautiously asked Caesar as she looked at Erwin over the gun breech. Erwin peered through her periscope and glanced around the forest and the top of the hill. "By the looks of it, it seems like we beat Team 1 to this location" she confidently said as a slight smug grin appeared on her face. "We'll set up positions in those trees at the edge of the paths to ambush them when they come down the path, and with rabbit team behind them, they wont escape, almost like when the Allies trapped the Germans in France in WW2" she added as all of her crew nodded their heads in agreement. A thick pocket of trees separated the two halves of Team 2 as they pushed forward to the hidden trap, hiding the fact that rabbit Team was parallel to the main force of Team 2. A strange cold chill suddenly shot up through Caesar as she quickly turned to Erwin; "Something doesn't feel right, should we call Rabbit team to find out their location?" Erwin quickly shifted her focus towards her loader; "Why? I believe we are ahead of Team 1, most likely we will encounter them as they come to this hill too, and even then.." "Erwin, trust me, something feels off. We ordered them to follow Team 1, and yet they haven't reported back their positions or the location of Team 1, something isn't right" Caesar passionately urged as the strange feeling only began to worsen. Erwin looked down at her feet and thought deeply, pondering what to do, tension slowly beginning to grow inside the tank destroyer compartment as doubts of the situation began to run in every girl's head. "Should we call them?" asked Caesar, her tone getting more serious, her eyes not moving away from Erwin who still looked down in thought. She slowly nodded and quickly turned to the radio and began to find the frequency "RT come in, RT please respond." she asked as she kept adjusting the dials. There was a moment of silence, Erwin holding her breathe as she waited to hear a response. "This is Rabbit Team over, what's the matter Senpai?" responded a familiar voice; Erwin breathed a sigh of relief. "Azusa, what is your location? Are you still following Team 1" swiftly asked Erwin as she glanced back at her periscope. Azusa replied "Uh, we got a late start following Team 1, we're sorry Senpai however, we are about to come up at the big hill; I can almost see it from here..". Erwin's heart quickly stopped, her mind going completely blank, her eyes starring down the periscope towards the trees that were on the other side of the crossroads. 'Damn, no no no' she instantly thought. "Lets hope we don't walk into a trap they set up Senpai" trailed off the voice as silence consumed Erwin, her eyes as wide as plates as she quickly looked at her gunner, her mouth beginning to yell out an order. Time seemed to slow down to a crawl within the StuG as barrels hidden within the trees aimed at their targets. "Open Fire!" yelled Miho, her eyes not moving from the flag tank as bright flashes shot out of every tank in a barrage, quickly followed by explosions that roared like thunder as bright yellow and orange colored shells went screaming towards their targets. "Turn left quickly Oryou!" screamed Erwin. Without a second thought, the black haired girl moved the control sticks and the StuG unexpectedly swerved left as a burning yellow shell hit the side of the StuG and ricocheted off hull, zooming as it flew away. "All tanks, open fire on that tree line!" screamed Erwin, her ears slightly stinging from the shell's bounce.

"you guys hear that?" suddenly asked James as he stood up, his eyes glancing out the barred window. "Hear what?" retorted Thomas who quickly looked at James "The only thing I'm hearing is me kicking your ass if you don't shut the fuck up" he added. The noises continued on which sounded like muffled thunder in the distance. "That you stupid cactus" bluntly replied James as he pointed out the window. "Now that you mention it, I can hear them too" added Joe as he stood up, walking towards the window James was standing beside. He looked out and squinted his eyes, scanning the horizon for any clues as for what was producing the sounds. "The hell is that Joe?" suddenly asked James as he pointed to a bunch of faint smoke plumes that were rising from the forest. Joe stared blankly towards the rising plumes, perplexed on what could be the source of the smoke. The rest of the crew began to crowd around the medium sized window as they all tried to get a better view of the scene. The muffled roars persisted as all eyes focused on the plumes of smoke; "Maybe the ship is exploding" commented James. "Good, that means I don't have to put up with you making that damn gesture James" amusingly replied Thomas; "You mean this?" interrupted James who chuckled as he stuck out his hand and made a circle with his index and middle finger. "It is quite peculiar, isn't it guys?" asked Chuck, quickly turning his head towards his crewmates. "Yeah" they all softly replied one after the other. Silence consumed the cell once again as curiosity took over, the constant booming continuing in the background. "Heeyo Bitches, kept you waiting huh?!" abruptly yelled a familiar voice. All heads quickly turned towards the friendly voice, all eyes widening with joy. "Skip!, Juan's back guys!" rapidly commented Chuck as all the boys moved towards Juan. "What took you Juan?" boldly asked Joe who carried a rough smile across his weary face. He stuck his open hand through the dark metal bars and garbed Juan's hand and firmly shook it as faint smiles began to appear on every single face. "Sorry guys, there were some things that took more time than, expected but we are pretty much free to go" Juan rambled, his eyes scanning at every single one of his crew, whose expressions quickly changed from weary to joy in the matter of moments. "Wait, we're free to go!?" asked Chris, his face gleaming brighter than the lights the illuminated the cell. Juan confidently grinned and nodded his head. There was a moment of silence between everyone as they all looked at each other, all holding in an emotion that longed to be released for a long time. Within seconds, they all cheered and celebrated wildly; causing so much noise that two guards appeared at the door at the end of the hallway to investigate the commotion. Juan's face slowly changed as his smile slowly faded. "However, there is some news I have to share with all of you , so I'm sorry I had to kill the moment, but it is quite important. " Everybody abruptly stopped and looked back at Juan, their faces showing concern and fear. "News? is it good or bad?" nervously asked Joe, his eyes glaring down at Juan. Juan took a minute as he looked down at his black sneakers and thought. He then looked up and bit his lip and with a blunt tone replied 'That's the thing, I'm not sure if you guys will consider it good."

"PREZ, ANTEATER TEAM IS DOWN, I REPEAT ANTEATER IS DOWN!" yelled Erwin as her mind and heart raced, bright shells zooming by the tanks as they impacted the ground in every direction sending clouds of dirt and debris flying in everywhere. The dark grey Stug was hiding behind a small clump of trees at one side of the path, while a Type 3 Chi-Nu was lying in the middle of the dirt path, smoke coming out from its engine deck and turret as a small white flag proudly flew above it. "We're fine, keep fighting on guys" proudly said a girl on the intercom. Smoke and bright flashes showered the woods as each team fired at each other, not backing down from their positions as they attempted to get the upper hand. "Concentrate your fire on the flashes!" yelled Erwin as she looked down her periscope, her eyes staring down the woods. "What's the plan Erwin?" loudly asked Caesar, nervousness ridden in every word. Erwin thought deeply as she tried to figure out a way to get the advantage in the current situation. "keep firing, I'll figure something out soon, nothing is coming to me" she replied as desperation slowly began to crawl upon her. Caesar looked at Erwin with a face of distress as she pondered to herself, loading another shell as quick as she could. 'This isn't how Erwin usually acts, I wonder if we will win this match at all'.

"Anteater team is knocked out, good call Yukari for having two teams to take her out, all that remains are Rabbit, Hippo and Turtle teams." said Miho as she peered through the vision slot in her cupola. "However, we must make sure we knock out the flag tank" she added with a determined tone. Burning yellow shells whizzed by the stationary tanks, impacting the forest behind and around them, sending chunks of mangled trees flying everywhere. "We can't stay here long, sooner or later they are going to hit us" commented Saori; Miho nodded in agreement. " I know, we can reset our positions and have them chase us, or rush them but either way we will be exposed". A loud boom echoed throughout the tank as smoke flew out of the breech as an empty shell casing came out and fell on the metal floor, making a low metallic thud as it landed. Yukari grabbed another shell and quickly loaded it into the gun. "one way or another, we are not going to loose this match, right Miporin?' confidently asked Yukari as she glanced at Miho, who was still staring through her vision slot. "Miho, are you guys there?" suddenly asked a voice on the intercom; another loud boom echoed through the tank as the reloading process began anew. "yes, what's up?" Miho replied as she held her throat mic. "Rabbit team is holding out pretty well, they've found some cover and we are wondering if we should push and try to take them out?" asked the voice. Miho thought deeply as the gun fired once again, creating a bright flash as a projectile went zooming ahead, impacting close to the grey StuG that was hiding behind its makeshift cover. "At this point we'll be in a stalemate if we don't make our shots land on anything; lets rush them at full speed, if we can make them fire at us first as we come out, we can push them and have our guns trained right at them". Alright, all teams load your guns, we only got one shot at this, so lets make it count. Duck Team, when we emerge, you will switch out with Mallard team as quickly as you can" Miho said. There was a brief moment of silence on the channel as both Teams thought about the plan. "Understood" replied both team commanders. Miho looked down at her friends, who looked back at her with confident smiles; 'lets hope this frontal attack works' she nervously thought. A tense feeling filled the tank as every girl knew the severity of the situation. Miho's heart started to race as she looked at the path and the possible locations of the StuG and the Hetzer, trying to figure out a good method of a frontal attack. "Alright Mako, when we go forward, make sure to go in defensive turns until we are close enough so Hana can have a clear shot at Erwin" ordered Miho. Mako replied with a sleepy tone, her eyes trained forward "Alright". Miho then grabbed her mic and with a tone full of pride loudly ordered "Panzer Vor!"

One by one the tanks rapidly emerged from their dark cover, the bright sun enveloping their tanks with bright light, their colors showing proudly under the makeshift camo of leaves and branches. Dust flew behind them as they rushed forward towards the opposing Team, screeching and clanking as they advanced, "They are coming right at us!" loudly yelled Saemonza; "What?" blurted out Erwin in confusion, her eyes quickly looking through her periscope. "I see the flag tank, its going down the other path!" added Saemonza; "Hit it then!" screamed Erwin. The type 89 quickly drove across the intersection; Saemonza locked on at the moving tank, her eye not moving from it. She quickly fired, her shot flying towards the target as it quickly disappeared behind a clump of trees. "Damn it" she softly said. As quickly at the Type 89 disappeared, a light green Char B1 appeared. "They are charging right at us" said Momo as she fearfully looked at Anzu. 'She took to the offensive that quickly, Miho is sure full of surprises'. "Why aren't you firing?" quickly added Momo as she interrupted Anzu's train of thought. "Don't worry, I am I am" Anzu lazily said with a smile, much to the dismay of Momo-chan. 'we're too exposed' she continued to think as she aimed down her sights' they are as well, but they have the momentum to run over us.' "FIRE!" yelled Erwin at the top of her lungs, her eyes not moving away from her scope. A tremendous explosion echoed through the forest as a bright flash came out of the barrel as a yellow projectile went whirling towards Miho's panzer. "Mako!" loudly yelled Miho with a worried tone; the panzer rapidly veered left as the shell bounced off the side armor, creating sparks as it flew off into the forest. "This is it! Gun it now, Hana be ready!" she added as the panzer lunged forward, its engine screaming. Erwin watched horrified as the Panzer came driving towards them. "Prez, take your shot against them quickly!" begged Erwin who was staring at Caesar as she tried to load in another shell. Anzu looked down her scope and saw Miho's Panzer as it drove headlong towards Erwin's StuG, its flag flying proudly above it. "come on, get a bit closer now" silently whispered Anzu; "There" she confidently added. The Hetzer shot at the Panzer, its shell impacting the ground beside the moving tank covering it in dirt. "Why?" cried Momo as she grabbed The student council president's shoulders and shook her heavily. "I don't want to interrupt, but Mallard team is looking right at us." softly said Yuzu. Momo and Anzu looked straight ahead to the gun barrels that were staring right at them. "Its a pity that we didn't have good positions to have strong defense; This is going to make our ears sting for a bit" the Prez said as she slightly grinned. The Char fired it's main 75mm, its payload hurling to the small Hetzer; impacting it on its side and sending it flying a few feet back. Black smoke started coming out as a small white flag popped out of the upper part of the hull.

" Anglerfish team is getting closer!" nervously said Oryou. "back up quickly, we cant shoot at them if they get too close" ordered Erwin, her heart racing faster and faster by the second. The StuG's engine roared as it tried going in reverse, shooting black/grey smoke from its exhaust. "Mako, faster!" Miho yelled. The Panzer raced down the path, inching closer and closer to the retreating StuG. Erwin sat motionless, her mind spinning trying to figure out a last ditch tactic before it ended. Suddenly, like a great realization, her eyes widen with joy as something came to her mind. "Oryou, when I say the word, turn as quick as you can so we can lay our gun at them " she said, bravado ridden in every word. "Our 75 is loaded, Saemonza you'll only have a split second to hit them understood?" she added. Saemonza nodded her head as she aimed. Seconds quickly went by as both tanks raced against each other. Erwin gritted her teeth as she waited for the moment to come, her patience running low. 'come on, come on, a bit more' she thought The panzer got within a few yards of the StuG, its turret aimed right at it. "Now!" screamed Erwin; within moments the STuG violently turned towards the Panzer. "Mako!" yelled Miho, adrenaline consuming her as she slightly popped her head out of the cupola; the panzer suddenly started to drift, its tracks skidding across the dusty trail. "Hana, there it is, take your shot!" yelled Miho as the Panzer drifted in the dirt trying to get at the StuG's side. The tank suddenly stopped, a large cloud of dust covered the area as the Panzer's barrel aimed straight at the StuG. "Damn!" screamed Erwin as she covered her ears; a bright yellow flash dispersed the dust from the panzer's barrel. A shell went towards at the StuG at close range, impacting on the front plate with such a force that the StuG slightly went sideways. Everything within the tank destroyer violently shook as the crew went flying out of their seats. Silence quickly followed as both beasts stood still. A white flag popped out of the StuG, making a metallic thud as its cover landed on the hull. 'That was too damn fast!' thought Erwin as she slowly raised herself, her ears still ringing. "Everyone Ok?" slowly asked Caesar who was rubbing her head softly; moans echoed throughout the compartment in acknowledgement. Erwin touched her head and immediately noticed her cap wasn't on her head. She glanced down and saw it lying next her foot, which was resting over multiple empty brass shells. Caesar popped open her hatches; bright light flowed through the opening, revealing plumes of smoke that floated within the compartment. "They got us good didn't they?" Caesar asked, a grin stretched across her face. Erwin looked up at her, her eyes scanning her friend. "Guess so, just like at El Alamein" she chuckled as she put on her cap.


	13. Chapter 13

(sorry if there is a confusion for Erik's name, which is Erik instead of Erick, autocorrect can blame that, along myself)

A metal click echoed through the cell as a police officer unlocked the cell. Time seemed to stop as the officer slowly opened the door, creaking as it swung open. Juan stood idly by, his eyes hidden by his cap; the corridor's lights shining brightly down upon the men. Joe cautiously walked out, his eyes quickly shifting to the officer who was holding the door open who had a slight trace of fear written on his face. Joe's face dulled as he turned his head back towards the rest of the guys. He continued walking towards Juan, who was standing deathly still, with a hardened face and his hands in his pockets. Joe stopped right next to Juan, staring straight forward. "What's the news then skip?" he roughly asked; Juan kept staring forward, his eyes slowly narrowing; "Grab your stuff from the front, I'll tell the guys to do the same; I'll tell you all in the truck". Joe lowered his head and put on his tan side cap, its dark and worn edges starkly contrasting against his messy hair. " I hope its good" he silently muttered as he walked on. Juan turned towards his friend as he walked out the corridor, his eyes gleaming brightly under his cap. He then quickly shifted his focus towards his crew who were walking towards him, their faces had an array of different expressions that ranged from bright to relieved. " Follow Joe and grab your shit from the front, there's a truck waiting out front to take us where we need to go." he ordered as Erik amusingly asked " To the firing squads skip?". Juan stood silent as a smile slowly grew on his face" No, sadly ". "of course not" Erik chuckled as he walked on by. After every one walked out the door, Juan looked back at the officer who was standing by himself, who was staring back at Juan. Juan nodded to the man, who returned the gesture. The Mexican then turned and walked out the door, a great feeling of relief rushing upon him.

"So this is the outside world!?" yelled Erik as he ran his hands down his face. The afternoon sun slowly kept going down, casting black shadows that bent and distorted against the steps outside the front of the police station. "Freedom tastes so sweet" he added. "Bitch, what freedom? We've only been in there for like a day. Don't give me that Shawshank shit" chuckled Rick as he walked by Erik clutching in his hand, like a newborn baby his anime figurine. Juan walked out of the building clutching under his left arm his yellow Mae vest; he put his right hand over his eyes and looked at the sky which started to change in its beautiful late afternoon dress. At the bottom of the steps was a white cab truck with a large open bed in the back, humming as it waited. Two officers were talking to the driver, their hands pointing at something in the distance. "Is that our ride Skip?" asked Chuck who walked up next to Juan, his hands clutching a life vest and parachute harness that was intertwined with itself. "yeah" he nodded as he looked down; "Where are we going?" Chuck added with curiosity. Juan quickly looked at him with a half grin " Ill tell you all when we are on our way". Chuck stood still for a moment, his face distorted with confusion as he kept looking at Juan. " You're acting pretty sketch Skip" he nervously said. "Don't worry about it, trust me, its nowhere bad, alright?" said Juan with a soothing tone. He put his hand on Chuck's shoulder and with a father like grin that stretched across his face he asked " Alright?". Chuck continued to stand still until the words hit him. He slowly nodded his head in agreement and smiled back at Juan "Alright Skip". Juan patted his shoulders as Joe suddenly walked up to the duo. "Skip" he roughly greeted, his eyes hiding under his hand from the bright rays of the sun. "Damn, funny that when your inside for a while your eyes have to adjust again, hate it when that happens" he muttered. "Ill see you guys on the truck then" eagerly said Chuck as he turned around and walked down the steps. "What was that about?" smiled Joe; " He's just worried about this whole fucking mess, I'm pretty sure the others are too" Juan replied. "So what's this news then that you've been so secretive about?" asked Joe, his gaze falling upon the rest of the crew as they started to get in the back of the truck. "Its both good and bad, just depends how you'll view it." thoughtfully responded Juan, his eyes narrowing on the crew. He then started to loosen his tie completely until his unwound it. He then quickly proceeded by unbuttoning his tan shirt, revealing a bright white t shirt underneath with a drawn cat doodle that was lying down on its belly. The white shirt gleamed in the sun, starkly contrasting the well worn tan dress shirt. He finally put on his yellow mae vest which somewhat hung loosely on him. Joe looked at his friend with a bewildered look. "What?" asked Juan; Joe asked with a confused tone " Why put on your gear, we ain't flying remember?" " I know, but as I always say, why carry shit in your hands when you can carry it on your back" commented Juan. Joe looked down at is hands which held his life vest and the bobble head, which slowly nodded its head back and forth.

"You guys okay?" worriedly asked Miho loudly. "you sure hit us hard" commented Caesar as she slowly came out of the knocked out StuG. "Sorry" apologized Miho; "Don't worry about it, that was some good shooting on Hana's part" added Caesar. "Thanks" suddenly said Hana as she and the rest of the girls popped out of the Panzer simultaneously. Caesar walked over to Erwin's hatch and kneeled on one leg beside it. She then lowered her hand down into the hatch which thin light grey plumes of smoke flowed out. Erwin looked up at Caesar; she stuck out her hand and firmly grabbed Cesar's as she pulled. With a swift motion, Erwin came out of the hatch into the bright warmth of the slowly setting sun. "That was a good plan of attack Erwin" complimented Miho; "Yeah, but you guys beat us to it" replied Erwin with a slight smug look. Her ears still slightly rang from the shell, but she tried to pay no mind to it. Erwin looked around and noticed her teammates walking towards the Panzer and StuG, their faces covered with slight grime and scratches. A low rumbling resonated from the end of the path as the Char B1 slowly rolled towards them. "By the way, what did you call this plan this time Miho?" asked Caesar as she grinned. Miho looked wide eyed at her; she smiled and loudly replied with a happy tone in her voice "We called it Operation Snake Eater" "Snake eater" both replied Erwin and Caesar as they both looked at each other with curiosity. " So you didn't base it from the game!?"suddenly yelled three girls as they got closer to the tank, of all of their eyes glued to Miho. "there's a game about snakes eating?, Like a competition?" curiously asked Miho. Nekota, Piyotan and Momoga all looked at each other with faces of hopelessness. "Never mind then" they said, Their hopes stolen from them in a single question. "very odd those three" silently commented Yukari to herself as she glanced at them. "Was the hit that strong?" suddenly asked Saori as she looked at Erwin's feet. Erwin looked at her with a confused look. Saori pointed towards Erwin's feet; her eyes quickly followed as she looked down. 'that's right' Erwin immediately thought ' I left my sandal back in the plane' All of a sudden, a wave of shock hit her; 'what if they go back and see that someone was inside that wasn't the police, what would happen if they find it?' "Everything alright Erwin?" asked Caesar. Erwin abruptly snapped from her train of thought and quickly looked at her friend. "My sandal" she softly said as she pointed down at her feet. Caesar looked down and chuckled; "Right, I forgot you left it back in the bomber".Oryou and Saemonza got out of their positions and joined the conversation that was occurring. "Feels like I've been hit on the side of my body with a bat" commented Saemonza; all the girls looked at her. "What did we miss?" she added. "Nothing, just how we have to go back to the B-17 and let Erwin get something she left behind" bluntly said Caesar. "what did she leave behind?" curiously asked Saemonza; "One of my Afrika Corps sandals" Erwin answered. "Its going to be tough to get there, since our girl got knocked out to high hell" interrupted Caesar. All girls looked at Hippo Team's grey StuG, which still belched out smoke. "We'll take you there then" softly spoke Miho ;"Since we knocked out your StuG, we can take you there" she added. "You sure?" asked Erwin humbly. Miho smiled and nodded.

House after house went by, the truck constantly humming as it drove by with the bed filled with Juan and his crew, looking at every direction. Juan stared blankly towards the houses at they went by, paying no attention to the scenery; his hand tightly holding his cap. His black hair flew vigorously, his mind deep in thought. As the truck drove by, people stared at the truck and its occupants wide eyed, confused by the spectacle. "Guess they've never seen Americans up close before" curiously commented Chuck. "How hell do you know?" blurted out Tony as he turned towards Chuck. "Look at them" motioned Chuck with his head. They all turned towards a small group of middle aged women who were carrying plastic bags. As the truck got closer and closer, they stopped in their tracks and gawked wide eyed at the truck. Their gazes were replied with the blank stares of the Americans. As quickly as they appeared, they disappeared from sight as the truck kept going onward. "Christ, that was too awkward; you guys saw how they stared us down?" asked Tony. "Yeah" agreed everyone. "Lets hope we wont be on here any longer, if that was odd enough, I cant imagine how we will be looked at if we stay here" added James half smiling. "That's what I wanted to talk about" slowly interrupted Juan. Suddenly, all eyes quickly shifted to Juan as they stared him down with suspense. "What did you mean by that?" nervously asked Chris, traces of desperation riddled in his voice. Juan's face remained blank as he looked down slightly biting his lip. A deathly silence consumed everyone as they anxiously waited for a response. Their hearts started to beat faster and faster all anticipating what Juan was going to say. Juan then took a deep breath and quickly looked up "We are stuck here". Everyone remained silent; " For two weeks" he added amidst their confusion. "Wait, what?" suddenly asked Tony with a loud and bitter tone; "Skip, you mean we have to continue being on here for two fucking weeks!? What the hell!?" he added with annoyance. Juan was then bombarded by all of his crew simultaneously as they asked him various question and displeased remarks. "Alright , alright would you fucks let me explain?" strongly asked Juan as he lifted his hands in front of him and moved them trying to calm down everyone. After what seemed like hours, they all finally calmed down and looked at him with faces of doubt. " Alright Skip, why will we be stuck here then?" asked James. Juan let out a heavy sigh" I talked to the guy in charge of this school ship. Apparently we flew a very great distance from any strips of habitable sand, Rick can vouch for me right?" "yeah, we were pretty much in the middle of nowhere, but that still doesn't answer why we will be here for a longer period of time Skip" said Rick, his figure still held preciously in his hand. " Can't they pick us up or something?" chimed in Chris . "The guy made contact with officials of the club, and they fucking told them that everyone in Japan were heading back for stateside for Christmas Break. Which means beside the surviving aircraft and crews from yesterday, the ground crews left as well". Juan somberly answered; " They marked us down as MIM, but since this morning they marked us down as DIM" Everybody looked down at the floor of the truck bed in disbelief. "DIM, Jeez did they really give up on searching for us that easily?" softly asked Doc, his glasses showing his concerned eyes in full view. Juan nodded his head, "However, the report was changed but since everyone is heading back, nobody will be able to pick us up, so we are stuck here until the ship docks back in its home port" Everyone looked at each other, their faces showing slight traces of acceptance of their situation. "So what then? will we live on the wreck of Speedy?" curiously asked Joe. Juan looked at him and hastily replied " No, he offered us a house to live in until we dock. He pretty much said we are guests here even though we fucked up private property pretty much". The dismal feeling still hung on everyone's shoulder as Juan kept going. "Along with that, I saw the results of yesterdays match" The truck suddenly stopped for a moment; everyone slightly lunged forward towards the clean white cab, their heads slowly trained on everything around them. It then turned left and quickly started speeding again as its engine hummed loudly. ' What were the results then Skip?" "It was a tie between us and the Jap schools." "What do you mean? how could there be a tie? its always one team wins and the other fucks off, what's the deal?" asked Tony in quick recession. "yeah" started asking everyone else as they joined in. Annoyance began to consume everyone, crawling slowly like a poisonous infection. "The judges voted that the Jap's strategy was worth a lot of points, even though we bombed the hell of the target they were supposed to protect." Juan said with irritation. Another thing is that out of the entire attacking force, 26 bombers were shot down, that's a fourth of our entire attacking team, literally a full squadron!" exclaimed Juan in disbelief, still in shock of the news he learned only hours ago. "Jesus"; "Lord almighty" began to circulate the words and phrases as everyone stood still, dumbfounded at the tragic news they heard. " A full squad then Skip, Lord who took it the worst?" asked Joe as he looked at Juan with sorrow filled eyes. Juan bit his lip and quickly answered bluntly" First wave got the worst, second wave was hit bad, we were hit pretty bad too, but the last wave didn't loose that many however" "How the fuck did this happen!?" quickly interrupted Tony, his eyes full of fury; "Where the hell was our escort?! For god sakes, they didn't even show up those bastards, those good for nothing..." "It wasn't their fault God Damn it!" screamed Juan in full rage, his heart quickly filling with negative emotions, his tightly held fists trembling. His eyes were gleaming in the setting sun, making them appear as if flames of anger flickered in front of his pupils. Everyone stood silent, shocked at the scene Juan made, their conflicting eyes piercing him like knives. Juan suddenly snapped from his rage, his eyes suddenly saddening as he lowered his head in shame, his mind in turmoil as he tried to say something to break the awkwardness he created.

"It..it wasn't their fault" Juan softly repeated as he slowly leaned back against the railings of the truck bed. He ran his hand through his hair as he took a deep breath. "It wasn't their fault because the rendezvous of the bombers and fighters were in the match arena, not out like it usually is, so the Japs hit them before they met up with us." Everyone looked at each other with astonishment; "Those pricks, is that even legal?" asked James with an irritated curiosity. Juan nodded his head in agreement; " They learn fast, we pulled something like that to their team about a year ago" Juan said, remembering clearly his actions as if it occurred yesterday. "We?" asked Joe with confusion, " I don't remember us attacking bombers at all?" he added. Juan immediately paused for a minute and remained silent as he tried to figure out what to say. "Uh.. yeah, we as in Americans. I had a friend in a public school back in California who was in the aviation club too. They flew Corsairs and he said that one match against a Japanese school that they did the same tactic, preventing the fighters from reaching the bombers. You can imagine what was the outcome from that match". Everyone looked at each other, their hatred and anger slowly fading away as rationality began to take their places." No matter what team uses it, its still a cowardly at to play a match". Doc sternly said; Juan tensed up slightly. His action was overlooked by the rest as they began to split up into their own personal discussions. "Well Skip, you weren't lying about the gravity of the news, but I still think you over dramatized the whole thing." Chuckled Joe as he smacked Juan's shoulder. "Juan slightly smiled towards the good hearted comment. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot something guys" he said out of the blue loudly, grabbing everybody's attention. " The man did say one more thing I forgot to mention" "What did you forget to tell us?" asked Joe; "He said that we were still going to get punished by damaging the land that we crashed on. "Punish-" "ment?" everyone abruptly asked. Their jaws fell to the floor of the truck;" Punishment? They left in jail, what else do they want us to suffer through Juan!?" cried Erik. Juan brushed off Erik as he kept going" So he said that our punishment was going to clean the tanks of this school twice". "Tanks? like storage tanks?" pondered Erik as he quickly regained from his childish demeanor. " I hope so, I hope they aren't the actual tanks that are on here?" answered Juan as he looked up into the sky, imagining the heavy metal beast that rolled next to him earlier in the day. "Tanks? you mean like actual rolling and shooting tanks?" suddenly inquired Joe. The crew burst once again into chaotic curiosity as they overran Juan with questions. " Why the hell are fucking tanks of all things part of the school?" yelled James; "Look who's talking, we fly in planes for our school" snapped back Brock. "true" quickly added Doc as he nodded his head in agreement. "But still, isn't it odd that this school has tanks? Who even operates them?" Doc added as he turned his head towards Juan. Juan stared back at Doc and his big circular glasses, his mind thinking as hard as it could trying to come up with a response. "That's right!" Juan all of a sudden spoke out loud as he snapped his fingers, his face conceiving a slight gin. "I think its a Tankery club, like the ones we have back home. You guys know, on those private schools ships that are full of those pampered cock suckers?" As if a light had been turned on in each of their heads, every single boy in the bed of the truck began to smile worriedly as they realized what Juan was going on about.

"It sure is getting late fast, do you think we'll make it to the crash site before it gets dark?" asked Erwin curiously at Miho who quickly looked at her. The sky began to slowly turn into a mix of light blue and a yellowish orange as the sun shined a bright white glow. Lines of thin dark white clouds covered the sky, rippling gently across it like ocean waves. " Don't worry Erwin, we'll make it in time" Miho smiled as her brown hair flew beside her face. Erwin and Caesar sat on the turret of the Panzer as it rumbled through the streets that were alive with people. Street lights began to light up one by one, illuminating the streets with a shower of yellow light. Caesar took a deep breathe as she smiled and looked up into the sky; " Sure is lovely on here, you know I never get tired looked at every sunset. Reminds me of all the beauty in this world. but I think it would look better in Rome" "Don't get full of yourself Caesar, we all know it would look better in the desert" chuckled Erwin lightly. "Sure it will" sarcastically commented Caesar. Miho and Yukari looked at each other with confusion written all over their faces, trying to comprehend the conversation that was unfolding on the roof of their tank. Yukari silently laughed as Miho gently smiled. 'Anywhere is beautiful really' Miho thought as she then looked back at Erwin and Caesar who were mindlessly continuing their cheerful banter, laughing and nodding. Erwin's face swiftly changed as she held up her index finger and with a tone full of remorse she loudly commented "I do feel bad for the automotive club, they will have to be up all night repairing a bunch of knocked out tanks only to have them beat each other up for another round of practice. I wonder if they'll get any sleep at all." Everyone quickly looked at Erwin as they pondered about the question she asked; "I don't think we will have another round tomorrow, so I think they'll be alright for sleeping in" said Miho. "True, I think it would be unwise if the student council made them fix knocked out tanks again so close to a match" added a slightly serious Yukari. "Fatigue will always cause mistakes" pitched in Caesar with a confident grin; everyone nodded in agreement in unison.

As the sun kept going lower and lower across the evening sky, the dark houses began to brighten up one by one as window after window came to life with a soft yellow glow. " About the tanks you talked about, so you're saying their the real deal then?" asked Joe as he turned his weary face towards Juan. Juan looked at his trusty co-pilot with a nervous grin. "Yeah, they're the real deal, actual military tanks" Lights from the houses and lamps lit up each crewman as they flew by, illuminating them with yellowlight that created dark shadows that distorted their appearances greatly. "Are you sure they are fighting tanks?" asked James; Juan nodded. " I saw one personally myself earlier today, it was a grey Tiger tank, a 'P' I believe" he added in monotone. Everyone mumbled to themselves in astonishment as they imagined a huge tank driving around on the ship. "Did you see who as operating it?" added James whose curiosity was growing by the minute. Juan remained deathly silent as lights hit him and quickly passed by, showing a boy whose face was completely black and white as each light went by. "Girls, all of them" Juan roughly said as he remembered clearly the faces and appearances of those girls. "girls?" suddenly asked everyone in unison, their hearts racing as their minds spun wildly. "You mean girls were operating that tank?" quickly asked Joe in surprise; "How?" he added. "I believe they might be in a club, a Tankery club" Juan answered bluntly. "Tankery? I never heard of such a strange club" said James with distaste; "Looks who's talking, we fly in planes to kill each other, doesn't get stranger than that you dumb cactus" scolded Brock. "I believe that we have them too" swiftly pitched in Chuck. "Everyone quickly turned their attention to the waist gunner, glaring him down with shining eyes that begged to know more. "We do?" asked Juan. "yeah, on those private school ships". Chuck eagerly explained. "We have them too because of a girl I knew who was accepted into one of those schools and she said that they had a Tankery club and that she joined. She said that the Tankery clubs over there were funded by the schools themselves, not like us who are funded by the government." "Ah, I see, so the US has these clubs too, so why haven't we heard much about them?" commented Chris as he put his hand under his chin and looked down as the metal floor. " I think it has to do with us" abruptly stepped in Joe as he leaned against the railing beside Juan. "Chuck, did your lady friend mention if any girls die in these matches?" he quickly asked Chuck who replied with a confident tone. "No, she said that the inside of the tanks were covered with some sort of protective material, which means that they fire live ammo that doesn't do anything" Everyone suddenly thought deeply upon hearing starkly different club their female counterparts were in, their eyes staring forward as they tried to ponder a club that involved fighting but with no fatal outcomes. "Difficult to imagine such a 'safe' club isn't it" Juan said in monotone as he stared unblinking. "maybe that's why it isn't popular in the west" sternly commented Chuck; "Maybe because people view our club as more thrilling thing to watch, seeing humans fight for their lives, all for the entertainment of the shallow masses that society has become." Everyone slowly turned their attention to Chuck once again as he pulled at their minds and their hearts. He continued, passion burning in every word as he confidently spoke " Someone once told me that all the boys of the Global Aviation Club have become modern era gladiators, fighting and dying in front of millions, only to please them with their valiant actions and horrid deaths." A somber feeling suddenly ran through everyone as their hearts began to sink lower and lower into the pit of despair and sorrow. Each person remained silent as they let the words sink into them, showing them the horrify truth they all knew, yet somewhat disregarded. "Though, it may be true that we are nothing more than sheep to the televised slaughter to the viewers, but to each other, we are more than that" promptly said Juan. The truck suddenly stopped at a traffic light just beneath a lamp post that showered the truck in a warm glow. The ensemble all raised their heads and looked at their Captain. "We are boys in the GAC, students who volunteered or were forced to join by the courts to fight and die with each other. We create bonds that are stronger than the average athletic sports team. Frankly boys, I'm glad I joined this club because for one I get paid handsomely, even though its blood money, but most importantly it gave me a reason to keep going through what I go through; you guys" Everyone looked at Juan with slightly teary eyes, their smiles growing larger. "We have become a family who sticks it through thick and thin in the matter of a few short months. All the other students look up at us as the brave fighters who risk their lives every week in a damn game that was brought into this world by heartless people... I said it once before and ill say it again, I'm glad to be in this club"

"Lets hope we beat our visitors to their own plane" anxiously said Erwin as she began to tap her fingers on the panzer's turret. "Hey Erwin, Yukari said earlier that you met the boys who landed on our carrier, is...is it true that they're Americans?" Erwin looked at her and nodded her head; "Were you able to see how they looked like?" Saori hastily added. "I couldn't see very well since it was too dark, but I was able to see how tall they were, and they were pretty tall." Erwin said as she crossed her arms in front of her chest and closed her eyes. "Were they handsome, like actors or models?" Saori asked as she got out of her position and sat on the tank's hull. Her hair flew gracefully beside her face, her glasses making her eyes appear larger in the dimming natural light. " I couldn't tell, I'm sorry" said Erwin; "Come on Erwin, she's been like this all day, she wouldn't stop asking about them before our practice match" chipped in Yukari. Erwin smiled and slightly laughed as she looked towards Saori; "Don't worry, I'm just as curious as you are on seeing their faces, but if my memory serves me right, they all looked like Hollywood movie stars"

The humming of the truck echoed as it slowly turned down a dirt path with had dark towering trees on both sides which were black as night compared to the orange/purple sky. Joe turned to Chuck and asked "How do you know so much about this Tankery club? " "The girl I knew really liked it, she said it gave her a feeling of adrenaline and purpose she never felt before" She said she wanted to be as good as the Tank teams of Japan who are apparently really fucking good" "Mmm, so that's why Tankery is so popular here" smiled Joe as he looked in his pockets to find any spare cigarette. "And what about the girl?" he asked as he kept trying to empty in his pockets. Chuck's face turned blank as his eyes quickly darted off towards the sky trying to avoid eye contact." She uh, well.." "Come on Chuck, what happened?" "We stopped talking a while ago because she said she had eyes on somebody and with the distance being an issue, ugh it was a mess she said" Chuck somberly said. Joe quickly stopped in his tracks and looked at chuck with the corner of his eyes. "Don't worry about it man, there are chicks everywhere, however if you want to go after them it all comes back to you" Joe said as he comforted Chuck who looked at him and began to think deeply as he nodded his head in agreement. "So what about this house you mentioned Skip?" asked Doc as he turned towards Juan. "The man said we will be able to live there as guests until we dock, which in short means don't fuck it up and be grateful we will be able to live under a roof and not in the wreckage of ol' speedy." Juan hastily and professionally replied, his voice staying constant and dull. The truck leaned and swerved side to side on the dusty dirt road, sending its occupants moving side to side in the back, much to their dismay. "Feels like that run against that one German school in the Rhur valley" cheerfully commented Erik as he held on to the railing of the bed. "Don't fucking remind me" hastily replied Tony, his face getting darker and darker " I almost threw up with all that damn flak shaking us 'like a politician going to see the big man himself" he added with a heavy dose of sarcasm. The truck's lights suddenly turned on; illuminating the dark path with a glorious yellow light. Long shadows suddenly were casted along the path as the yellow tinted road seemed to go on and on. "You know what this path reminds me of?" abruptly asked Juan as he shook; everyone looked at him with expressions of perplexing as they awaited for him to continue. "It reminds me of some old dirt roads in Mexico, where there were some horrid potholes and the truck would lean forward as it fell in, and lean back as it got out" he softly smiled as his mind played back preciously held memories " There was one time when me and my cousins had the bright idea to jump off and run behind a truck that our cousin had, like grabbing on the end and running with the truck's speed" he continued as he bit his lip. "So, one of my cousin's fell and landed face first into the ground and laid on the road as we yelled 'Go on , go on cause a dumbass fell in the middle of the road!" he laughed to himself. Juan looked up as he wiped away tears from his eyes and saw the mixture of faces that ranged from amused to confused.


	14. Chapter 14

(Thanks to all who've kept up with my story, not trying to sound like an attention whore, but your reviews/compliments have me strive further with this fic, so again thank you all. I might take some time posting chapters because I'm also beginning to write/draw another story that will involve Juan and his crew)

"Are you sure this is the right path to head to the B-17?" asked Caesar as she turned to Miho who was glancing at the stars above as they slowly started to appear one by one, the moon glowing brighter as it started to rise higher and higher. She slowly turned towards Caesar and nodded her head as she gently smiled "Don't worry, Mako knows where's she's going" Caesar turned her head as she looked down at Mako in the driver's compartment, her eyes barely peeking over the open hatch of the Panzer. Two bright headlights covered the dusty path in two luminous beams of shining light. Erwin sat silently still as her mind drifted into a single thought that completely consumed her; the inevitable encounter to their 'visitors'. "I wonder what I should say, granted they don't understand Japanese but I think communication won't be a problem, ill just imagine I'm talking to a bunch of elementary school kids who are about our ages, and tower over us" "What are you thinking about Erwin?" all of a sudden asked Caesar. Erwin remained silent as her mind came back into reality; "What?" she asked with a confused tone. Caesar chuckled as she placed her hand on her friend's shoulder, " Guess its something real important then, tell me. It doesn't involve those boys does it?" she asked with a smug grin stretching across her face. Erwin's face tightened as she glared down Caesar and with a cocky tone in her voice replied " And if I am, what are you going to do?" "Blame you for costing us the practice match against Miho!" hastily said Caesar as she smacked Erwin's shoulder. Erwin's eyes widened as she stared at Caesar in awe. " I knew you were thinking about boys in the match, I knew it" she laughed. "As if" Erwin snapped, I just made a simple mistake, everybody does. I mean take a look at Wittmann, he suffered the same fate against the British as we did against Miho and her tanks." she added as she closed her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest, sitting perfectly straight. Caesar's face suddenly turned blank as she glanced at Erwin; " So that's how Michael Wittmann actually died?" Erwin nodded her head in absolute confidence as she grinned" yup, that's how he died.. wa.. wait a minute, weren't we talking about how you were accusing me of costing us the match" " I was, but I found it curious how he died, I actually never knew that" Erwin looked at Caesar with a perplexing look as she then turned toward Miho ho was staring at both of them. "It is true that he died in an ambush, that's actually what I was partly thinking about when we set up our trap against you guys" she said. "well there you go Caesar, knowing about history will always make you prevail" Erwin proudly exclaimed as both she and Caesar nodded in agreement. Yukari and Hana both stared at each other with wide eyes as they kept trying to comprehend what was going on the roof of their tank. Have you guys noticed its beginning to be a bit chilly" suddenly interrupted Saori as she looked towards everybody. "Now that you mention it, I'm beginning to feel it too" answered Miho as she started to rub her hands together. " I hate the cold" bluntly said Mako as she kept driving.

"Is it getting colder guys? I don't remember last night being so chilly." asked Chris as he fixed his long sleeve button up. " I can't feel shit" sarcastically said Tony " Granted, I'm used to freezing my ass off at 20,000 ft. anyways so what the fuck do I know?" he gestured as he put his hands in the air. " I've been seeing a lot of police tape since we are getting closer to the crash site" Joe said under his breath. 'Mmmm" Juan mumbled as he kept staring at the trees that flew by and disappeared into the night. A soft white glow began to cover the entire area once again painting the black forest with a soft hue of white. "It got dark pretty fast" Juan commented, his eyes slowly shifting to the illuminated path as tree after tree wrapped in police tape came into view. The dark blue sky was full of stars that sparkled and gleamed as long thin clouds drifted slowly across the night. " I know about safety to civilians and bystanders, but isn't this a bit too much?" asked Juan. " For god's sake there's like tape covering almost every tree; people aren't that stupid". "Yeah, except us Skip" chuckled Brock ; "Haha, ain't that the fucking truth" added Joe as he smiled and shook his head. "Uh, skip, I'm seeing a bright glow coming from over there" swiftly and loudly said Rick as he pointed towards a bright gleaming glow that was coming closer. Black silhouettes of the trees starkly contrasted against the white/yellow light as they created long dark shadows. Well fuck, looks like they sure lighted up the site to the point where it exclaims Here's the interesting thing that we defiantly don't want people to look at" exclaimed Erik loudly with a sarcastic voice that showed his true feelings. The truck rumbled on as it bounced and shook as all eyes stared straight at the bright glow that drew closer and closer towards them. Bit by bit, out of the muddled mess of dense foliage came into view tall silver poles that had large pairs of lights that shown down onto a large field of grass which in the center rested the beat up B-17. The truck suddenly stopped with a jerk as everybody slightly shifted forward, their eyes however not lifting from the bomber. Juan's heart slightly raced as he gazed upon his bomber which sat in the green grassy field which had its natural colors thanks to the spot lights that were surrounding the site in a perfect circle. "Alright guys, get your shit together cause our stop is here" suddenly yelled Joe with a grin; "Alright we're moving, we're moving" replied Erik as he jumped off the back off the truck and landed on the dusty path with a thud, sending small puffs of dust flying beneath his shoes.

Juan jumped off the truck and walked over toward a small hill that was overlooking the crash site. " Damn, they really fucked us up didn't they, I didn't except that much damage to the fuselage" curiously commented Juan as he still gazed upon the worn and shot up B-17. " Nah, I don't see much of an issue, she's still able to fly" hastily said Erik as he walked up to Juan as he held in his arms his gear. " Its not too bad, I mean its just a burnt up engine that was flung over there, a wing that's still stuck in that, uh, tree over there and all those metal debris that can be stuffed back in Ol' Speedy, Brant sure is going to love this isn't he?" he added as he slowly turned to Juan who was still staring forward at the site, his mind clouded with multiple thoughts. " seven games, she lasted for seven long games and there she lies, broken and worn" he softly said as he kept gazing. Slight shiny glimmers appeared all over the bomber as its natural metal skin gleamed through multiple scratches on its drab olive dress. A strong feeling of awe suddenly hit Juan, his mind quickly going back to the time he and his crew had to find a new bomber to replace a former one they lost. Joe slowly walked up to Juan as the truck suddenly turned off and the whole field swiftly turned silent; "You've been staring at the bomber for a while Skip, whatchu thinking about?" Juan remained silent as he closed his eyes and tilted his head as he looked down at the ground. " Nothing, I'm just remembering the moment where we found that bomber in that school up in Tennessee, you remember the school who's markings are of the 91st BG?" " How can I forget, she was almost in the same shape she's in now, except not as fucked up" Joe chuckled as he scratched his rough chin. " They said that she was unlucky, well we proved those guys wrong for the most part" Juan added as he smiled " Seeing her like this brings back some memories doesn't it Joe?" " Sure does Juan, it sure does"

"There's the forest" exclaimed Yukari as the Panzer suddenly turned left, screeching and groaning as it turned on the paved road heading towarda a large cluster of tress that seemed to start a large sea of trees that went on and on into the horizon. Bright rays of white light from lamp posts cut through the darkness as they lightened up large circles in the concrete road that displayed to full view different markings of shapes and sizes painted over them. As the tank rolled on going under each light, all the girls' faces distorted and changed as their shadows hid their eyes and showed stone cold expressions as gleaming sparkles shined from their eyes, creating demon like apparitions that appeared only for a brief moment. They all remained silent as the Panzer grunted and screeched as it kept going; a constant puff of grey smoke flowing out of it's burnt exhausts. Light after light went by slowly until the Panzer IV suddenly stopped at the edge of the woods, its headlights glaring down a dusty path which was surrounded by multiple trees, a lot of them covered by bright yellow police tape that had red and black hiragana written all over them. "Well, if I remember correctly it wont take us long to reach the crash site" suddenly said Miho as she stared down into the forest. "How long to be exact?" quickly asked Erwin as she turned her attention towards Miho, her eyes focusing on the gentle girl. Miho looked back at Erwin as she deeply thought; "Mmm, at best guess around 10-15 minutes" she answered as she nodded. "Good" hastily said Mako as she was starting to doze off in the driver's seat. " maybe I don't have to wake up at the unnatural hour of 6 am." she slowly added. " But you have to get us to the crash site before you drop" chuckled Yukari as she leaned out of her turret door and rested her head on top of the cold metal turret. " She is kinda right though, that match earlier made me tired" she added. " Me too" softly said Hana as she went back inside of the turret. " Wake me up when we get there, I'm going to try to get some rest" she said as she closed her side turret doors with a metal clang. Everyone looked at the empty space Hana left behind, their bodies showered in a light white glow. 'Just like last night' Erwin thought to herself as she turned away from the rest and looked into the forest. The tank kept a constant and soothing hum as the engine idled, waiting to come to life. "Alright, lets get to that crash site and get Erwin's belongings then" said Miho loudly; " That is if the Americans haven't gotten to there first" chipped in Caesar. " I'm so anxious to meet the handsome gentlemen that are on our ship!" exclaimed Saori as a smile ran across her face, her eyes staring towards the sky as her mind painted vivid images of multiple teen movie stars. " Come on Saori, you haven't had a boyfriend before, how are you going to talk to them? Are you sure you aren't going to get a heart attack when you meet them face to face?" asked Caesar as she grinned. " Of course I wont, wait how did you know I haven't had any experience talking to guys!?" she asked with trace of annoyance in her voice. " You'll be surprised how fast word can travel on a school ship" replied Caesar as she put her arms in the air. Saori slowly turned her head towards Mako who was staring forward silently. A strange silence feel upon the girls as they all stared at Saori and Mako. "Alright, we got to keep moving otherwise we'll get home very late" suddenly spoke Miho; Alright, Panzer Vor!" she yelled with the last bit of her energy. The panzer jolted forward, sending its occupants slightly flying backwards as the engine roared to life, creating a distance that echoed in the distance. 'At least Miporin still has some energy left' thought Yukari as she scanned the horizon.

" You guys hear that?" asked James as he stopped and turned his head. Everybody stopped and turned their attention to where James' eyes where glaring. " Wake up you damn cactus" said Brock as he turned around and started walking towards the bomber. " I didn't hear anything" added Tony as he followed behind Brock. " I swear you fucks are deaf" commented James in annoyance. As Juan walked with his crew in a small loose pack, he turned his head around and noticed that only a few figures and cars were at the edge of the trees, their silhouettes barely visible compared to the black trees behind them. " Looks like the cops still haven't fully left, but as I'm counting I'm noticing there aren't many left." Juan commented as he kept glancing in every direction. "Maybe they figured out watching over an empty plane really isn't worth much cash when they can go and slack off instead" joked James as he began to look around as well. Juan squinted his eyes as the bright rays from the spotlights began to blind him and his crew. Doc put up his hand over his eyes as he slightly grit his teeth and distastefully said " I wish they could turn off some of these lights"; "Yeah, seems like we're walking into the Lord's Kingdom" slightly chuckled Erik. Bit by bit the raggedy and tired cluster walked until the finally reached the wrecked '17 after what seemed like an eternity in a blinding white light. " Hey Skip, do you think those cops entered our bomber?" worriedly asked Joe as he turned his attention to Juan. Juan remained silent as he looked all over the B-17, his eyes scanning each and every corner looking for an answer. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Juan bit his lip and nodded his head, his eyes hidden under his cap; " Looks like that's a given, what really peaks my interest is that if any 'other' visitors have entered as well" Joe's eyebrows suddenly raised an inch as he looked at Juan with a gaze of curiosity "other visitors?"

Juan nodded his head and repeated "Yeah, our other visitors". Joe's face tightened as he quickly put his hand under his chin and quickly went into thought, his mind trying to decipher Juan's words. The group starting searching around the wreck when suddenly a loud howling emanated from the edge of the woods and some of the lights turned off with a flash. Everybody stood motionless as their eyes quickly turned towards the direction from where the noise came from; multiple dark figures starting running towards a large black blob that was next to a lifeless light post. Angry voices started yelling in the darkness as Juan and his boys kept watching; "Looks like a generator gave out" commented Joe as his eyes didn't leave the blurred commotion. " Looks like" added Juan as he lowered his head and took off his cap and ran his hand through his hair. "Right, lets see who defiled our plane with their god damn filthy hands" loudly announced Brock as he climbed on the remains of the right wing. He then proceeded to climb on the main fuselage and stood on top of his former position looking in the dark radio room. With a swift movement he leaped inside and disappeared from sight. A loud bang came from the entrails of the bomber which was then followed by a deathly silence. A wave of curiosity suddenly hit everyone as they moved closer to the bomber, their shadows dancing on the flat olive fuselage. " The fuck?!" suddenly yelled Brock, slightly shocking Juan as he moved back an inch. " What's wrong?" loudly asked Joe as he climbed on the wing. " Our shit isn't in here, looks like we've been bamboozled boys" Brock continued with a tone that was a blend of agitation and shock. " So they did look through our bomber" said Joe as he turned is head towards Juan. Juan focused on his co-pilot and noticed that he started to slightly get jumpy as his eyes started to scan around the entire area and the B-17. Juan squinted his eyes, his mind trying to comprehend his friend's radical movements. " Hey guys, there's a tarp over here and our stuff is around it" abruptly spoke Chris, his finger pointed towards the other side of the B-17. Everyone except Juan and Joe started to rush towards Chris as they surrounded him. Juan glanced at his crew who suddenly went to the other side of the bomber. Yells of joy and anger quickly followed. " lets see what we can salvage from the cockpit the" Juan spoke with a slight sigh. He then proceeded to climb on the wing and the main fuselage in a swift and delicate movement. He peered inside the radio compartment and saw dim rays of bright light entering from the small windows of the room. He scanned in the compartment when suddenly he shifted his head to one side as his sights focused on something that grabbed his attention. " Joe looked at Juan with a look of confusion; "What is it Juan?" he asked to no reply. Juan sat on the roof and dangled his legs in the compartment; he then quickly jumped down with a heavy metallic thud. Joe climbed on the fuselage and looked down into the radio room. Juan was kneeling in a dark corner, his body covered in darkness as he fiddled with something. " What did you find Skip?" he asked, his eyes squinting hard trying to pierce through the dimly lit room. Juan slowly stood up, his back against Joe as he kept scanning at something he kept fiddling with. " looks like I was right, those cops weren't the only visitors to come here" he slowly commented; " what do you mean?" asked Joe as he kneeled above the opening. " I don't think a cop would wear this, and the size seems a bit small for a man" Juan continued as he slowly turned towards Joe. He stretched out his hand and in the dim light appeared the shape of a sandal with a faint Afrika Corps logo; " a flip flop?" Joe asked with inquiry. Juan nodded and said with a blunt tone" I think I have a feeling who this might belong too, which tells me she really has a knack for German memorabilia which is quite odd for a girl"

" Where are you girls going? Don't you all know its pretty late to be in these woods?" loudly asked an officer as he stood in the middle of the dusty path with his left arm outstretched. " our friend here left something at the crash site" said Yukari as she stood on top of the turret. `Erwin, Saori, Mako and Yuakri all stared at the individual, their eyes scanning over the officer whose shadow behind him casted a long slender figure. The officer's eyes were hidden under his cap, yet his facial expression was of pure agitation. " She shouldn't have left anything, its dangerous being in these woods" he commented sternly, his arm still outstretched stiffly. " what's so dangerous sir?" Yukari followed as she glared down the officer; " if you haven't noticed sir, we are operating a tank" The officer's face slightly loosened as he tried to come up with a clever response to the girl's snappy and well thought out argument. As he slightly opened his mouth, Yukari interrupted him and boldly continued with a grand smile " If anything we come upon wants to mess with us, we got this barrel to give em' our response". After what seemed like hours, the officer finally loosened his body and his left arm drooped down by his side. " Alright, you can go right ahead, but don't take too long you hear me?!" he barked as he stepped to one side of the path. " I'm only doing this since you girls are the only reason I have this lofty job" he added, his hand waving high above him as the Panzer started once again on its journey. Yukari, Erwin and Saori all waved back with smiled all across their faces " Thank you kind sir!" they all thanked in unison. "Hey Saori, can you put a blanket on Miho please" Yukari asked. " Sure" replied Saori as her head disappeared from the open hatch. She moved to the back of the turret of the Panzer and cautiously pulled a small blanket over Miho who was sleeping at her position with her head laying on one of her shoulders. She tired to maneuver past Caesar who had also fallen asleep at Yukari's post. ' How can all of you have fallen asleep so quickly, not even Mako is asleep yet' she thought as slid past the breach of the gun back to her position. The Panzer rumbled through the path, sending clouds of dust flying everywhere that dissipated into the night. Erwin and Yukari both sat crossed legged over the Panzer's cold turret as chilly air blew past them, their heads staring straight at a glowing light that began to appear in the forest. " Looks like we are almost there" cheerfully commented Yukari; " Looks like we are huh" said Erwin as she looked down at her foot that was missing the sandal. " Do you think the Americans already made it to the site?" curiously asked Yukari; her eyes turning straight towards Erwin who swiftly looked back at her. She slowly turned her view away from Yukari back towards the light and bluntly answered " I'm not sure, if they are then they'll know we visited the site, plus with me missing a sandal they'll know who exactly too." " You sound like you're worried abut that Erwin." Erwin looked back at Yukari with a confused look on her face. " I should be, I mean they discovered we entered their plane and isn't that bad enough? They'll be angry most likely, you know how Americans are" " But, you already had contact with them before, so I think they won't be angry with you at all" cheerfully comforted Yukari as she placed her hand on Erwin's shoulder. Erwin gently smiled as she nodded her head in agreement " You're right, they have no reason to be angry at a curious mind right?" Yukari smiled and nodded her head " if they do give you back, maybe they will do it in that Cinderella style where they place it on your foot" A smug look slowly grew on Erwin's face as she thought about being pampered in that form; she then rapidly turned to the bright light that was growing bigger and brighter.

Juan and Joe slowly walked through the bomb bay that had pipes and chunks of metal sticking out of every direction. A bright light came from the open door at the end of the compartment, covering everything with a dim white blanket of light. Dark shadows created different shaped and sizes that dominated the small area, creating a terrible feeling of claustrophobia. " Seems like it was only yesterday that we were running for our fucking lives out of this metal deathtrap" commented Joe under his breath; " Maybe cause it was yesterday smartass" bluntly replied Juan. "I know that man, You ever gonna quit busting my balls Skip" said Joe as he grabbed the worn metal door frame. " I will when you don't give me any reason in the first place" answered Juan; " Haha, then I have to get used to your bitchin' then" sarcastically chuckled Joe. " damn straight bitch" silently mumbled Juan to himself. The two slowly entered the cockpit, their hands over their eyes as they tried to get used to the blinding light that was in front of them. Juan blinked multiple times in quick session as his pupils finally got used to the light. He slowly walked bent over until he reached his seat and with a single movement sat down on the cold seat. His eyes quickly scanned over to the location of his Jesus picture only to find it wasn't there; his heart slightly raced as he looked everywhere around the ruined cockpit. After searching for a few moments, his eyes suddenly caught something that was placed over the instrument panel. he rapidly reached for it and firmly grabbed it by a corner and pulled it in front of his eyes. " looks like they even went as far as to be in here too, and moving my shit at that" grunted Juan as he slowly and carefully placed the image of Christ in his shirt pocket. " hell yeah, they didn't find it thank god" suddenly said Joe who breathed a huge sigh of relief. Juan immediately turned his attention to Joe who was squatting behind his seat, his arms under it as they fiddled around with something. " Did you actually bring your secret stash of smokes with us this game?!" exclaimed Juan as his eyes focused at Joe's arms. " Nah, I didn't so you don't have to scold me 'bout smoking, but for one they didn't find my most valuable thing" said Joe as he slowly pulled out a worn notebook that had a large rubber band that held a mechanical pencil and a tube of lead tightly against it. " Your poems" Juan said to himself as he scanned the notebook in its entirety. " plus, and don't freak about this skip, alright? This stays between you and me for the time being" Juan's face tightened as bad thoughts began to fill his mind on what Joe was about to say next. Joe slowly went back under his seat and slowly and carefully pulled out a small clear plastic bag that contained a small mushroom. " Joe, what the fu..!?" yelled Juan as Joe tried to calm him down. " Shush, lower it down would ya? I Know I know, its shrooms but hear me out" " hear you out about what? You're going to get fucked up with those things man and why in god's name did you get those?" snapped Juan at Joe. " I understand the smokes, but shrooms? Come on man, I thought you were better than that" he added with a noticeable distaste. " Listen Skip, I just wanted to try it before our luck runs out and I heard they give you some interesting material to write about." Juan gritted his teeth, his mind deep in thought as he kept glaring at the bag that was in Joe's hand. After sometime coming up with multiple pros and cons, he finally came to a conclusion that he prayed he wouldn't regret later. " Fine Joe, ill let you do this once, just ONCE alright?" Since we are going to be here a while I'm sure you'll have a safe place to take them, but are you sure?" Juan asked with a concerning tone. Joe nodded his head slowly" Don't worry about it Skip, I'm only planning on doing this once. Plus I read up about this shit so I can prepare to take a trip. I did the math Juan, I ain't that dumb" he confidently spoke. " I do ask a favor though" he added. Juan looked at Joe with confusion written all over his face; " Sure, what is it?" Joe looked up at Juan with eyes full of trust and faith "Please watch over me while I'm out Skip, please" he begged. Juan slowly rolled his eyes and stood up to walk out of the cockpit " Alright, but you owe me big time you fuck" he slightly chuckled. " Plus its a real small dosage, so you don't have to worry about me getting long term effects" Joe continued. " I already agreed to this shit, don't be a kiss-ass man" Juan sternly spoke.

A low rumble began to grow louder and louder as it echoed through the field and the surrounding trees. Everyone suddenly dropped everything on the spot as they stood up and looked around trying to discover the origin of the strange rumble. " What is that?" asked James nervously as he quickly looked in every direction. " I'm not sure, but it seems to be getting closer by the second" answered Doc. "I'm not liking this" loudly commented Chuck; " neither am I" added Tony with traces of fear in his voice. The rumbling grew louder and louder, much to the dismay of the frightened teens.


	15. Chapter 15

( I'm sorry if this chapter seems rushed or half assed)

" SKIP, I see lights coming our way!" yelled Erik as he placed his hand next to his mouth to amplify his nervous comment. Juan and Joe quickly rushed through the tight compartments as they tried to reach the radio room. A rumbling began to get louder and louder as seconds quickly passed. Juan's heart raced as he wondered what thing could cause such a racket in the dead of night. Joe rushed past Juan as he stood in the middle of the room and quickly turned towards Juan with both of his hands laying one on top of the other as he lowered them in front of his body. Juan noticed this within the matter of moments as his eyes danced around Joe and the dimly lit compartment, his mind going blank as his body completely acted on instinct. Joe's face tightened as he grit his teeth and firmly planted his feet on the heavily worn metal floor. " Juan" grunted Joe; "Right" rapidly replied Juan as he stood on the bulkhead of the compartment and with a swift movement leaped as his left foot fell on Joe's hands. " Joe slightly buckled and moved as he thrust Juan with all of his might out of the compartment. Juan flew straight out of the radio room and landed on all fours with a loud metallic thud as the painted aluminum skin under him bent. Without hesitation he turned around and lowered his hand towards Joe who was looking straight at him; they both nodded in unison as Joe firmly grabbed Juan's hand and pulled tightly. Juan leaned back in a single movement and grunted from the sudden weight he was pulling as he brought his other hand which still held the sandal to add more support and within the matter of moments Joe was kneeling beside Juan. " Wonder why it took us longer last night huh?" he asked to Juan as he kept trying to regain his breath in heavy sighs. " That has to wait, lets see what's all of this commotion will we?" commented Juan who suddenly leaped from the fuselage and landed on the ground. He stumbled and slightly fell as the sandal fell out of his hand and his hat fell off; he quickly stood up and ran as he grabbed both items and awkwardly rushed to his crew who were all staring at a pair of two golden yellow beams that appeared to float in the forest. " You see that Skip? What the hell is that?" nervously asked Chuck as he quickly shifted to Juan and the moving lights. " The fuck did I miss?" suddenly asked Joe as he joined up to the group as they all kept staring at the beams that illuminated the path that was in the wood; black tree passed by one by one as the bright light brightly shown behind them and quickly disappeared as the thing kept moving. Juan squinted his eyes hard as he placed his hand on his forehead and slightly leaned forward; his eyes focusing hard on the roaring object that was getting closer and closer to them. His mind quickly began to conjure up multiple ideas on what the mysterious object that was causing so much commotion could be. He rapidly turned his attention towards the dark silhouettes at the edge of the forest and noticed that they continued with their routine, unaffected by the oncoming object. Suddenly, a single thought quickly shot through his mind which silenced the rest of the thoughts in the matter of moments as he slowly looked down as his hand and looked at the tan sandal. " Do you think those cops are going to fuck us up?" asked James whose tone was ridden with morbid curiosity. " Come on James, if they wanted to fuck us up they could have done it already" added Brock with a blunt tone. " it ain't no cops that's for sure" abruptly said Juan as he looked back at the beams; " What did you say Skip?" asked Tony as he turned his head towards Juan. " I said it ain't no cops" he repeated with distaste. " Then what the fuck are they?" hastily added Tony. " Juan then lifted his hand and revealed the sandal as he softly shook it back and forth; " Looks like our 'friend' from yesterday decided to come and get this thing, and it seems she's not alone this time"

As everyone kept staring at the lights, tensions began to grow by each passing second as everybody waited for the mysterious vehicle to reveal itself. " Do you really think that girl is coming back for a fucking sandal?" blurted out Joe as everyone stood still, their eyes frozen towards the object. Juan's face slightly tightened as he tried to come up with something to respond to his co-pilot. His mind was in complete disarray trying to calculate and concentrate on multiple things at once. Slowly, and in stutters he replied with uneasiness in his tone" I mean... yeah, wouldn't you if you lost something precious, li...like .like your poem notebook for instance. I bet you'll be coming back for it if you lost it right?" Joe's eyes suddenly veered towards Juan as he let out a sigh. " I guess you're right, but I don't have to worry about it since I'm not stupid or careless enough to leave it out of my sight. Ill be carrying that thing to the grave unless I actually loose it and see some of my poems years later in some famous magazine under somebody else's name, then you can rub it in" Juan's brooding face nodded as he agreed; he then looked over the pile of bags and noticed that a worn guitar case was slightly leaning against the pile. It had different stickers that varied in size and color pasted around the entire case like patchwork. " Looks like your guitar survived both the game and the crash" commented Juan towards Joe as he crossed his arms across his chest and slightly leaned to one side. Joe quickly jogged to the pile and kneeled next to the guitar case. With a loud thud the case landed on the cold grass as two clicks quickly followed; a large smiled grew across Joe's beatific face as his eyes scanned every single inch of the guitar looking for any damage. It gleamed and shined as rays of white light hit it in all its glory. The noise suddenly roared as all head swiftly turned; " I cant fucking believe it" commented Juan with a slight distaste. The two headlights suddenly turned off as the object stopped in front of a car that was turned on, its headlights exposing a large truck that coughed and choked as its' engine turned off. " Its a fucking truck Erik and you made it out to be some great monster or some bullshit. Why were we nervous and curious in the first place? Are we that fucking autistic?" loudly asked James as he put his hand over his face and turned around. Brock suddenly squatted and put his arms in the air and with a ear piercing tone he yelled " Reeeeeee, Reeeeee!" Everybody bursted out laughing as he continued with his show" You right!" cheerfully laughed Rick. " You're no innocent one either Skip. You said it was that blonde girl who wanted to come back and get her sandal but instead it was a truck that sounds like it isn't even maintained at all" added Doc who quickly pushed his glasses closer to his face. " I know, but in my defense it was just an assumption though so I cant be blamed." Joe slowly walked in and with a slight sleepy tone ordered " Alright, now that we've had our fun seems time to get our stuff into the truck and get the hell outta here. I want to sleep in a bed tonight instead of a cold floor like in the cell". One by one everybody nodded in agreement and slowly and calmly began to pick through the multiple back picking out the ones that belonged to them. As Juan was lifting up a bag and passing it to Chris who was kneeling beside him, he began to hear something that was getting closer. ' Wonder what that noise is?' he thought to himself as he slowly stood up and stared at the ground, his face tightening as he tried to focus on a soft metallic humming. His heart slowly started to race as a feeling of elation gradually began to crawl over him. ' I knew she'd come back for this' he happily thought as he looked at the sandal. " Hey skip, don't just fucking stand there man, here's you shit if you're so lazy to grab it yourself." sarcastically chuckled Joe as he tossed a medium sized duffle bag. Juan immediately broke from his trance and buckled as the bag hit him mid chest with a thud.

" Erwin, I see about a dozen figures next to the bomber!" exclaimed Saori. Erwin leaned at an angle and stared through the thinning forest and gazed upon the center of the open field which was lighted brightly, though she noticed some areas were as dark as the forest they were traveling through. " Damn, looks like they beat us then" she commented under her breath as a slight smug stretched across her face. " You mean the Americans?" asked Yukari curiously as she squinted trying to get a more focused view; " yeah" softly answered Erwin. " Wait, are you saying those are the American boys... those are actually real boys?!" suddenly exclaimed Saori as she began to look at her clothes and feel her hair. " But.. but I'm not ready; I'm a mess right now, I can't make my first impression looking like this! This is horrid!" she added in utter disbelief. " Its alright, don't worry about it I'm sure they wont mind" silently comforted Mako. Saori looked at her friend; she thought deeply about it for a few moments as the words began to sink in. She slowly smiled as she nodded her head in confidence " You're right Mako, I'm sure I can woo all of them" she smiled. " Good, now please keep it down I'm trying to sleep here" commented Mako as her eyes barely peered through the top of the open hatch. Saori rapidly looked back at Mako with confusion and nervousness written all over her face. "Either way, lets make a good first impression with our guests ok?" gleefully spoke Yukari as she bravely kneeled on the top of the turret. Erin looked down at the sides of the path and saw police officers standing in small pairs glancing back at her as the tank slowly rolled by as slight puffs of light dust flying. Erwin's heart began to increase speed as the clearing began to come closer and closer to view. She looked down at her foot which was resting on the cold turret and randomly moved her toes in order. 'At least I don't have to walk awkwardly anymore; from now on I'm taking my boots.' she thought to herself, her gaze shifting back at the bomber. The panzer slowly turned off the path and drove through a onto the edge of the lighted field. With a suddenly jerk, the tank suddenly stopped and Erwin and Yukari slightly slid forward on the roof. The engine chugged off and in an instant all of the boys stared wide eyed at the Panzer IV. Yukari and Saori suddenly froze as they replied with the curious and blank stares with equal gazes. " Hey Erwin, didn't you say all the boys were going to look like actors right?" slowly asked Saori as she kept glaring down the gaggle of weary young men. Slowly and with a heavy trace of nervousness Erwin answered "Yeah"; her heart beating as fast as it could as she kept looking at the bewildered group. " Then why do they all look like criminals and rejects? Especially that one wearing a Hawaiian shirt, looks like one of those American mafia guys" Saori continued. A strange silence fell upon the entire field as it blanketed both parties who kept staring at each other unblinking and unmoving.

" Skip, that's a tank, with a bunch of girls within it" slowly commented Tony whose eyes didn't even move an inch from a maroon colored Panzer that was sitting at the edge of the clearing. " I can see that, and I can also see our friend from yesterday" bluntly replied Juan. His eyes quickly fell upon Erwin who was sitting on top of the turret with a brown haired girl kneeling next to her. A half awkward smile crawled across Juan's face as he slowly raised his right arms and slowly waved side to side. He looked down at his left hand and focused on the tan flip flop that he lightly held on to; with a peculiar motion he lowered his right arm and slowly raised his left with the sandal flying in its glory. Erwin suddenly leaned forward as she tried to focus onto the sandal that Juan was flinging around. " He has your sandal and he's flying it around like some war trophy" snorted Yukari as she quickly looked towards Erwin. A smug grin stretched across Erwin's face as she started to climb off the panzer; Yukari stared perplexed as her mind tried to understand what her friend was trying to do. Erwin walked across the top of the hull with a cat-like movement as she glanced at Saori and Mako who were observing her as she stopped at the slightly bent fender and with a single movement leaped off and landed on the cool grass. She quickly regained her posture and started to walk towards Juan and his band; her eyes hidden under her German officer's cap that she slightly adjusted as she stiffly walked. " She coming this way Juan" commented Joe as he walked up to Juan; " I know man, I'm not blind" he bumbled. " I bet you five bucks that when she gets over here she's gonna smack the shit out of you" Joe smirked. Juan looked at his friend with a dumbfounded gaze as he slightly opened his mouth and squinted his eyes " Why the hell are you always pessimistic when I socialize with girls? Just destroys my optimism in talking to them or even looking at one." " Hey man, you said it not me. I try to build your confidence by putting obstacles in your way so you can overcome them" Juan kept staring at Joe until he slowly turned his attention towards Erwin and started to shake his head " Sounds like your just bullying the fuck out of me and busting my balls bitch" he softly muttered as he began to walk towards the blonde girl that was only yards away. A black shadow casted across the upper half of Juan's face as his eyes seemed to appear like stars. His sights were focused directly at Erwin who seemed to be focusing directly at him; her eyes were hidden under the visor of her cap yet Juan noticed that her mouth was gently moving, as if she wanted to say something. Everything seemed to fade away as Juan kept on walking, his mind in a flurry as he tried to come up with something to say to the girl. His face kept staring straight as his eyes started to dart between Erwin and the ground that was below her. ' What should I say? I don't want to sound like a creep or something... wait a minute, she doesn't understand English remember? Fuck, you're right, great that makes things twice as hard now'; he grit his teeth as he pressed headlong. As Erwin kept walking stiffly, she slightly jittered as the blades of grass tickled her foot in a never ending cycle. Time seemed to slow down as she kept looking towards Juan whose eyes were hidden by the black shadow of his cap. His unflinching face suddenly made Erwin feel nervous as she kept glaring at the frightening figure that was slowly approaching her." Damn it, why do I feel nervousness now? This isn't like me" she softly commented under her breath. " I'm just going to grab my sandal and that's the end of that, but what if he says something at me? I knew I should have took that foreign language class."

Yukari kept her watch as she focused heavily at Erwin and the stranger that was slowly approaching her. ' Interesting, he's wearing a Mae vest and a US crush cap; wonder if they're original or repo?" she thought. All of a sudden out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that the entire group of boys started to walk a few yards behind the first boy. Her heart raced as she swiftly stood up on top of the Panzer and jumped off as Saori swiftly glanced at her. " Where are you going Yukari?" " Lets go accompany Erwin, we cant just leave her out there all alone with a group of strangers" she said with a nervous smile that tried to hide her fears. Saori kept looking at Yukari with a confused gaze for what seemed to be hours until she slowly nodded in agreement and anxiously said as she started to leap off the Panzer " Come on Mako, she's right we can't leave her there by herself while she grabs their attention." Mako's eyes slowly followed Saori as she leaped off the Panzer and landed on the ground. " There is only a few things the human body can't do and one of them is being awake for a extreme period of time" she mumbled. Saori turned back towards her friend and with a tone filled with bravado cheerfully continued. " Extreme? Its only been a day pretty much; I mean I feel tired but I still got some energy left so come on" Mako's eyes narrowed as only the top part of her face barely appeared through the hatch. She let out a loud sigh as she slowly and lazily climbed out of the drivers' hatch. "Fine, i'll come along but at this point you guys are just torturing me" she commented as she slowly climbed down the front of the tank. She walked up to Yukari and Saori and then the trio began to walk towards Erwin.

As each second slowly crawled by, Juan kept looking around calmly as his mind went into complete chaos. " Fuck, fuck , fuck man she's getting closer, what am I going to do? Should I just give her the sandal and walk away? No, that's just too awkward, at least try to have some sort of conversation, even if I have to resort to elementary school dialogue". As he kept thinking, his train of through suddenly derailed as he glanced behind Erwin and saw that three more girls were walking behind her a few yards behind. As he kept studying them, he noticed that one was noticeably smaller than the other two. " Damn that chick's small, looks like she's actually smaller than James." he muttered to himself. Suddenly, he looked back towards Erwin and saw that she was standing right in front of him. His heart stopped as he swiftly halted right in front her. Silence covered both of them as they both stared at each other unblinking; their eyes both covered by darkness. They both rigidly stood still three feet apart as they both tried to figure out what to say. Juan was in mental chaos as his eyes darted between Erwin and the group of girls that were quickly approaching them. He clenched his fist and looked down at Erwin's feet and slowly opened his mouth. " Shoe...you're missing a shoe" he softly spoke as he pointed at Erwin's feet. She looked down and saw that he was pointing towards her feet. She tried to analyze what he barely said and only understood a single word. ' Damn it Erwin, uh, uh just wing it, just nod and smile that's all. You've done it before, you can do it again' she hastily thought. " Ye...yesh" she cautious said as she tried to hide that fact that she had absolutely no clue to what she was responding at. Juan leaned forward as he brought up the tan flip flop in front of him; with his other hand he began to make hand gestures as he began to speak. " Would you like your flip flop back?" he casually asked much to Erwin's apparent dismay. She looked up and was quickly greeted by Juan's nervous face which startled her almost immediately. ' Stay calm Erwin' she kept thinking to herself over and over as her eyes fell upon her tan sandal which was held by Juan's caramel colored hand. She noticed that he repeated the same thing as he offered her sandal. 'He must be asking if I want my sandal back' she suddenly thought as she kept glaring down her own possession. With a shy demeanor she slowly nodded her head as she lifted up her hand to grab her sandal. Juan immediately noticed this and placed the sandal in Erwin's half open hand. She then lifted her bare foot and placed it on and lowered it back down. Erwin suddenly bowed at Juan as she spoke a Japanese phrase as she kept bowing as he stood there. He thought hard where he had seen this gesture before until like a flip of a switch it came to him. ' That's right, I've seen this in anime before. She must be thanking me for the sandal. " Its alright, its alright, you don't have to do this haha" Juan nervously laughed as sweat began to pour down his forehead. A great feeling of relief overcame Erwin as she slightly smiled; " Feels good that I have both my Afrika Corps sandals and I don't have to awkwardly walk anymore" she said. She suddenly stopped and looked at Juan wide eyed and saw that his face was of utter confusion. Erwin stared wide eyed back at Juan as a single thought shot through her mind; 'shit'. " Must be...uh... nice to have both of your flip flops back. I know for me I hate loosing one of my shoes" awkwardly chuckled Juan as he titled up his cap. His dark brown eyes quickly came into view which gleamed rays of life. With a single movement his hand slid back and rubbed the back of his head. A blank smile ran across Erwin's face as her eyes quickly blinked twice masking the true emotions she was trying to keep bottled up as long as she could.

As Erwin was about to open her mouth and try to speak something, Yukari and the others suddenly appeared beside her as they all glared down Juan. Juan's mouth slightly opened in confusion as his eyes slowly darted from girl to girl as they formed a line in front of him. " Has he been doing or saying anything wrong or criminal to you?" whispered Yukari as she leaned next to Erwin. " Uh, that's the thing, he.." Erwin replied as Yukari briefly glared into Juan's eyes; " I don't know who you are or where you come from, but all I can say is two things. One, I hope you didn't do anything wrong to my friend here and two, welcome to Ooarai" she said as she stuck out her hand. Juan looked at her hand and carefully and slowly reached out and grasped it. Yukari looked at him and noticed his distorted face as if he was trying to understand something bizarre. After a few seconds they both let go and the two parties went back to strange stillness. " What's wrong with him? Why is he just standing there staring at us?" curiously asked Yukari as she turned to Erwin. " Its because he can't understand Japanese" bluntly answered Erwin. " Oh, that makes sense now but I always thought foreigners should at least know our language. Do you think they have foreign language classes over there like we have here?" remarked Yukari. " I'm not sure Guderian, but if they did this narration would be much easier" replied Erwin as she glanced kept looking forward. "I feel somewhat violated here" commented Saori as she tried to hold back her growing nervousness as Juan kept looking at her and the others. " Here come the others" slowly spoke Mako; " My goodness are they tall" curiously expressed Saori. Slowly Juan's crew stood next to him one by one as they looked down at the small girls in front of them. " Damn skip, first one now four, give us a chance to get a piece of ass too" softly chuckled Tony. "Watch your words Tony, act like that behind their backs alright?" snorted Joe as he quickly turned towards Juan; " Do these other three understand English?" Juan quickly shook his head in response. " Ah hell, well looks like we wont be able to socialize or even get around the ship for these two weeks then" Joe continued. " Why are they staring at us Skip?" asked Doc as he pushed his glasses closer to his face. " Maybe because they haven't seen Americans this close, looks like nobody on this ship has" pitched in Brock. " Hey skip" suddenly said Rick as he motioned towards Juan to look at him; " Have you bowed for forgiveness yet?" he curiously asked. A look of confusion swiftly appeared on Juan's face " Bowed for forgiveness? Why should I bow?" Rick's eyes suddenly grew three inches as his face started to turn red " Skip, we fucked up the field back there with our bomber. Its a fucking custom to bow and ask for forgiveness after fucking something up" With a swift move, Rick lunged at Juan and firmly grasped his head and forcefully pushed it down towards the small group of girls. " Come on guys, fucking do this cause we can't end up looking like bastards" angrily yelled Rick as he motioned for the others to bow. They all looked in each other and shrugged as they all bowed in unison. " Lets hope they might still forgive us" nervously commented Rick as he quickly bowed too. All four girls stared blankly at the large group of boys as they all bowed at them. " What are they bowing for?" asked Yukari. " I have no idea" slowly replied Erwin.


	16. Chapter 16

(I'm extremely sorry if this chapter seems like ass, I went through like 3 or 4 revisions and drafts until I got this)

Yukari's eyes then glanced and darted between every single guy that was bowing in front of her; gazing every inch of their clothes and tattered gear. " Almost all of them have some sort of replica World War II era U.S flight gear" she whispered to herself in amazement. " Erwin aren't you slightly feeling a wave of excitement from seeing such interesting gear? I've only seen tanker gear from Saunders, but they wash them and keep them nice and perfect, this is the complete opposite. That stuff looks like tough quality based on the wear" she slightly leaned towards Erwin. " I saw it last night, but there wasn't much light so this is a better view I guess." Erwin slowly and quietly replied, her eyes still looking at the group of guys that were in front of her as they all returned the gaze in the same confused and studying manner as they slowly rose. " What the fuck was that for Rick?!" angrily yelled Juan as he re-adjusted his crush cap. " We can't be dishonorable here Skip" Rick quickly said as his tone clearly showed traces of humility. Juan's face tightened as his eyes narrowed and he put his hand in a confused gesture as he said in a blunt and slightly annoyed tone " I know that, but I meant why did you grab my head and shove it down like I was going to blow someone? You could have fucking hit my arm or some shit like that!" A straight-faced look slowly appeared on Rick's face as he apologized; " Well I'm sorry, it was in the heat of the moment and since you didn't bow first I had to give you a push" . Juan looked down for a minute and thought about what he should do as he rubbed his eyes. After a moment of strange silence between both parties Juan slowly raised his gaze and nodded his head. " Alright, ill let it slide this time man since you jumped the gun for the right reason, but if we weren't friends I would have most likely tried to beat your ass" sighed heavily. " Just next time don't be so harsh alright" he added as he looked at Rick who nodded in agreement. " Now that has been settled, the real question is how are we going to talk to these ladies that are in front of us. Since they don't speak a lick of English I highly doubt that if there are anymore they would speak it too." Joe suddenly cut in as he turned around and faced the group of tattered boys as they instantly formed a huddle circle as the three girls looked on in bewilderment. " Why do you care so much that they don't speak our damn language?" curiously asked Tony. " If we can't talk to the locals, how the hell are we going to find restaurants, stores or even our temporary house if we get lost?" worriedly added Joe; " You gotta think of the bigger picture here"

" What do you think they are saying?" curiously asked Saori as she quickly turned her head towards the trio of girls who all began to show symptoms of sleepiness. "Maybe they're coming up with a plot to peep on us while we go to the springs" half heartily and sleepily joked Mako as her eyelids almost completely covered her eyes as she was only moments away from passing out. " What would you say Erwin? You have more experience with our guests here; what do you think they are talking about?" quietly asked Saori as her focus quickly turned towards Erwin. " It was only one meeting, plus it was cut short due to police involvement so to put it bluntly I'm in the same boat as you guys" Erwin replied in a confident, yet self doubting tone. " What I'm more curious about is the patches that they all seem to have" she added. " Patches? What patches?" pondered Yukari as she leaned closer to Erwin and gazed in the direction Erwin was staring. " Those, right there on the left arm" she said as she slyly pointed upon Doc who was too busy in the group chat to pay any attention; " You see, the blue circular patch with a bright white star and red dot in the middle." Yukari squinted her eyes and finally focused at the small patch. " G.A.C, U.S and 303rd, wonder what that means" she commented to herself. Erwin's eyebrows raised an inch as she swiftly turned her attention towards her friend and with disbelief asked " You can see and understand those small words!? Yukari glanced at Erwin and softly smiled as she put her hand behind her head; " See, I didn't take English and foreign languages for long before I requested to transfer so I don't know much English words." Erwin's face quickly turned into an expressionless gaze as any hope of breaking the language barrier was quickly smashed. " Well at least we have a clue about what they are, organization wise." Erwin commented; " I'll search up this 'G.A.C' later on then" she added. " What words do you know then?" abruptly asked Saori with interest. Yukari and Erwin looked back at her with wide eyes. The late night dark blue sky shined and sparkled as millions of stars covered the heavens as a bright full moon wrapped everything in a cool and dreamy aura of white. "Well" she slowly spoke as she put her finger on her chin and thought deeply. "I know words like, 'helro', and 'yesh' and ' how are you' along with some basic colors, the alphabet and shapes". Suddenly without any warning, one of the boys looked at Yukari as she demonstrated her language capabilities and heard her speak. He then talked to the others who then swiftly turned their gazes at her. "Uh, Yukari they are starting to look at us again" nervously said Saori as she tried to grab Yukari's attention. " Hey, do you actually know how to speak English?" asked Joe as he turned around and stared right into Yukari's eyes. Yukari suddenly stopped and stared wide eyed at the group of boys that appeared in front of her, their eyes stabbing straight through her. " What did he say?" nervously asked Yukari under her breath, her eyes unmoving. " I don't know, all I understood from what he said was 'English" replied Erwin.

" What did she say?" curiously asked Juan as he walked up next to Joe and both of them looked straight at Yukari with eyes that studied every part of her delicate face. " I think I heard her say some English just a second ago" Joe answered with a blunt tone; " You think or you did?" retorted Juan with a slight quizzical look drawn over his face. With a cocky grin quickly appearing on his face Joe slowly said " Guess there's only one way to find out" With a slow step, he asked the same question again as he looked down upon Yukari and waited for a response. A huge feeling of nervousness hit Yukari like a cannon shot as she began to slightly shake wondering what to say. " Wha..wha.. what do I say?" she stuttered at Erwin who was looking at the group of boys that seemed to tower over her. " I don't know, wing it or something" she softly replied under her breath. Yukari gulped as her unmoving eyes made contact with Joe's slightly bloodshot eyes. " Uh...ye...yesh" she slowly and nervously said. A huge smile suddenly grew across Joe's rough face as he followed up with another question much to the dismay of the worried girl. " Would you please be our translator here since we cant speak a lick of Jap?" Yukari's eyes darted between Joe and Juan as they kept glaring down at her as they both eagerly awaited a response. Yukari began to blush as she slowly answered " ye...yesh". " That's great!, thank you so much for this you cant imagine how relieved we are " Cheerfully exclaimed Joe, " You hear that guys, we got a translator now. Juan you must be pretty blunt or that bad with girls if you couldn't ask her to help us" As everybody started to cheer Yukari stood completely still, wide eyed as the sentences passed in one ear and went out the other. ' What have I done, what will I do? Why are they even cheering for? Did I just agree to something? What if its something lewd?' she thought as her mind went into complete chaos as hundreds of question suddenly filled her brain. Erwin glanced over at her friend and saw the nervousness that was written all across Yukari's face. 'Oh no, what did she agree to?' she thought.

" So then, what's your name then little lady?" Joe curiously asked, his southern accent sounding more profound. " God you sound like a fucking pedo" snickered Juan as the others lightly chuckled. Yukari's mind was completely blank after all the chaos, her eyes unblinking. After a few seconds, Yukari come back into reality and slowly looked back up at Joe with a blank expression. " Uh Joe, sorry to burst you bubble here but it seems she didn't understand what you asked there" Juan murmured. " Oh yeah, watch this" Joe confidently countered; " What's your name?" he repeated. " Yesh" Yukari slowly said as she glanced down at the worn sneakers of the boys . Joe's heart suddenly sank as he put his hand over his face and shook his head slowly; " What did I tell ya" Juan smirked victoriously as it quickly transformed into glum contemplation. " However Joe's right, if we don't have some sort of way of breaking this barrier, our little stay will become a hassle". Everybody glanced at each other as silence overcame them as they all thought on multiple solutions. " Wait a minute!" abruptly yelled James as everybody turned their gazes on him. " We brought our phones didn't we? Why don't we use an online translator?" " I already tried that you idiot" interrupted Brock; " Bullshit, prove it" comically said James. Brock suddenly pulled out a black phone out of his pocket and put in in front of James's face and shook it lightly. " Look here dumbass, I got no service you blind tally Wacker" " Along with that, seems like the cops here tired to go through our phones cause when we found them they were already turned on. Last thing I remember clearly is that we turned them all off before we climbed into our plane." pitched in Chuck with a tone that was a mixture of annoyance and curiosity. " Well its a good thing we have number locks then" replied Juan in a comforting and reassuring voice. " Hahaha, damn straight its good, I don't want anybody to know about my good porn links" grinned Brock. " You know what, fuck this guys but I'm getting my shit and I'm going back to the truck" suddenly yelled Tony as he turned around and started walking back to the B-17 with his arms in the air. Everybody looked at him as he walked away slowly; " Why? you tired of hearing us bitch in front of these girls?" roared Joe as he put his hand next to his mouth. Tony slowly turned around and walked backwards as he replied" That, and I'm fucking sleepy man. I just want to go to that house Juan was talking about and sleep in a warm bed. Its getting colder and very late. I don't want to recreate last night. "

Erwin glanced at the group of boys in confusion as they kept on yelling and mumbling to each other in what seemed like controlled turmoil. " Is this how Americans really act?" commented Saori as she gazed at the spectacle. " If this is how they usually act, then Saunders need to keep studying how to be more American cause these boys are on a whole new level." bluntly said Erwin. She then turned her head at Yukari who was eyeing the group of boys; "What's wrong Yukari, did they scare you that bad?" She stood still and silent as she kept studying. After a few moments her eyes squinted and she calmly, yet distastefully said " Their clothing, they aren't wearing the appropriate clothing." Erwin looked at Yukari with a perplexed gaze, waiting for Yukari to continue with her rant. " It all seemed perfect, until I noticed they are wearing sneakers, and jeans and don't get me started about that guy over there wearing the Hawaiian shirt. The outfits aren't historically accurate" Erwin softly giggled to herself after she let Yukari's words sink in. " Jeez, don't frighten me like that. For a minute there I thought that they gave you PTSD or something and you're going about their outfits." Yukari smiled innocently as she glanced at her friend. As Yukari and Erwin discussed, a hand suddenly placed itself on Erwin's shoulder. " Why didn't you wake me up?" A rush of fear quickly flowed through Erwin as she yelled and jumped in place, her heart quickly beating as fast as it could. All eyes hastily turned towards the blonde girl who's etched face clearly showed the fright that had over taken her. Erwin quickly looked at the hand and traced it back to a friendly face whose eyes were partially closed. " Caesar! How many times have I told you not to sneak up on me like that! exclaimed Erwin. A shocked expression slowly appeared across Caesar's half sleepy face as she lifted her hand and walked a few steps back. "If I knew you were going to react like that I wouldn't have. You acted more frightened than Hitler when the Soviets were 10 miles from Berlin". she softly chuckled. " Seems like the boys are leaving" Mako quietly commented as she pointed to the group of raggedy boys as they all started to head back towards the bomber. " I wouldn't blame them, two late nights in a row after stressful days, even I would like to get some well needed rest, which reminds me aren't we having a match with Saunders soon?" asked Erwin as she adjusted her cap. " Three days if I remember correctly" answered Saori. " We can properly introduce ourselves tomorrow, since we'll have more time and maybe we might find someone who speaks English" Erwin continued. "Mmmm, I feel the only school I know will definitely teach English will be Saunders, and I heard that they'll go crazy for the chance to meet some real Americans." Yukari said as she put her hand under her chin and thought to herself. "Either way, we should start to head for our houses too" Erwin added with a semi-stern tone. Everyone nodded in agreement.


	17. Chapter 17

(I'm still very new at writing this, and for all those who have given me helpful suggestions in the comments, thank you all. ill try to implement them after trying to find simple examples on the internet. I'm sorry if chapters are taking more time to come, I've been hitting writing blocks more often trying to make a chapter work out, so again I'm so sorry.)

" Everybody grab your shit and lets start heading for the truck, poor bastard probably hates our fucking guts for making him wait so long" ordered Juan as he slowly waved his hand; " Yeah, if the guy is still there that is" added Erik with a slightly humorous and sarcastic tone. " That's true" silently agreed Juan as everyone kept on their path. Mumbling broke out between everybody as they grabbed what little possessions they had. " Anybody want their phones back?" loudly asked James as he held up a small olive drab ammo box that had the word 'PHONES' crudely painted on its worn side. Everyone suddenly clustered around the small boy as they all reached in the metal container and retrieved their devices that were covered in bubble wrap. Juan reached inside and pulled out his cell phone and quickly tore away the wrapping revealing a large white phone that had small cracks on the screen and black scuff marks around its chrome edges. He quickly smiled and turned his attention towards Joe who was picking up his guitar as he held a medium sized rucksack under his left arm. " You sure you'll be able to carry your guitar?" curiously asked Juan as he lifted is bag and placed it on his shoulder. " Ill manage, she ain't that heavy" replied Joe with a cocky grin that stretched across his weary face. " Damn it" abruptly yelled Doc as his head quickly turned towards the tail of the B-17 that was sticking up at an angle; " What's up Doc?" asked Joe. " My comics aren't here, they must still be in the tail along with my Bible." said Doc with tones of frustration in every word. Juan bit his lip and slowly walked up to Doc who was still glaring at the tail. " You can get them tomorrow Doc, at least you know they'll still safe in there" comforted Juan as he placed his hand on Doc's shoulder; " Mmm, I guess you're right but I'm still coming back here tomorrow no matter what" Doc agreed as he slightly bent over and picked up his bag as slowly started to walk to the truck which suddenly roared to life as two bright lights quickly turned on, illuminating the black forest with rays of light that created misshapen and twisted shadows that danced within the trees.

Juan stood still and glanced back at the group of girls that were talking amongst themselves. His mind slowly went into a deep train of thought as everything else around him slowly disappeared from view. ' We cant just leave without at least saying goodbye or something, plus Rikko, right? Yeah, Rikko really seemed happy when I gave her back her shoe. Wait a minute man, what are you even thinking? I mean the goodbye part was alright, but why did you think about that blonde chick. I mean, she's not that bad looking. Would I bang her; sure. I would like to get to know her more however. She seems to like military history too, though she goes too far'. " What are you thinking about Skip? suddenly asked a calm voice. Juan's mind quickly came back into reality as his heart suddenly raced as he abruptly turned around and saw Chris standing behind him with a confused gaze. "Jesus Chris, don't just walk up on me like that" Juan said with traces of fear and agitation. " Well I'm sorry Juan, I just saw you staring at those girls over there and I was just wondering what you might be thinking" Chris said as he slightly lowered his gaze. " Egh, don't worry about it Chris. Plus where have you been man? I haven't seen much of you lately." lightheartedly added Juan as a half grin slightly appeared on his face. " Well Skip, I've been here the whole time. I was there when we talking to the girls a few minutes ago." Chris calmly said ;Juan's grin slowly disappeared as Chris' words suddenly hit him like a bat. " Uh, well man to be honest with ya seems like I got used to you being a lot more talkative when you're behind me and Joe." Chris looked up at Juan with a blank expression; 'Fuck Juan, what the hell did you just say?!" Juan thought to himself screaming. Seconds slowly passed by as both boys stared at each other unblinking as Juan's mind raced trying to find something else to say to break the awkwardness he created. After a few moments of mental chaos, a single idea suddenly popped into his mind as he grit his teeth and slowly opened his mouth and with a blunt tone Juan slowly said " The girls". Chris's face slowly changed as he asked with a perplexed tone " Girls?"; Juan nodded as he continued. " yeah, I was thinking how attractive they all look." Chris carefully leaned towards the left as he looked over Juan's shoulder and gazed upon the group of girls that were yards away. " Mm, you're not wrong Skip. They all do seem very attractive but in all honesty Asians aren't my type" Chris serenely stated. Juan grinned and slapped his hand against Chris's upper arm with a light thud; "Well that's good, more girls for me then" he laughed.

* * *

"Well, I'm calling it a night then" abruptly announced Yukari as she quickly stretched her arms towards the night sky and yawned. " I'm with you there Guderian" Erwin added as she yawned as well. " Shall we head back to the tank?" asked Saori as she gently stuck out her hand and with a smooth motion gestured it towards the parked Panzer. Everybody nodded in agreement as they all started to slowly walk and limp back towards the tank. " Uh Mako, are you sure you'll be able to drive?" nervously asked Saori as she turned to look at her friend only to be met with the small girl slowly walking her eyes closed. " There's your answer softly chuckled Caesar as she began to drift in and out of sleep. Erwin glanced at Caesar as she started to slowly walk side to side, her eyes closing slowly. 'Jeez Caesar, why would you wake up and walk over to us only to fall back asleep' Erwin thought as she got closer to her friend and placed her arm across her shoulders; " Come on you, don't be walking around like you've been stabbed" A soft smile stretched across Caesar's face much to Erwin's dismay. Suddenly, a voice started yelling loudly as it broke the peaceful silence of the brightly lit field of green. Erwin slowly turned around as she tried to lug around Caesar. She squinted her eyes and noticed that Juan was waving at her. " Is he waving at us?" swiftly asked Yukari as she rubbed her tired eyes. " Looks like" answered Erwin with a sleepy tone. Everybody remained silent as Juan kept waving in the distance, his face completely hidden by his hat's shadow. " I think he's waving goodbye at us" commented Saori as she looked at the rest of the girls who were still staring at Juan. Erwin slowly raised her hand high into the cold night sky and slowly waved it side to side casually as she softly spoke to herself; "Gee A Shee. I'm going to look it up later for sure" Yukari slowly glanced at Erwin but remained silent as her eyes quickly fell upon the ground in front of them and nodded her head softly. "Lets get mooovinnng" abruptly urged Caesar as she sloppily moved her half limp body to make her and Erwin turn back towards the direction of the Panzer. Erwin grunted as she quickly lowered her arm and sluggishly turned around as she began her agonizing walk carrying dead weight. One by one the rest of the sleepy girls followed as they all walked across the open grassy field that gently swayed back and forth as cold winds blew through like soothing whispers. After a short period of time that appeared to last hours, the small gaggle of girls finally reached the tank as they all started to climb aboard for their trip home.

* * *

A constant humming emitted from the truck as one by one each boy tossed their belongings onto the bed and quickly hopped on. Juan and Joe walked beside each other, both had glum, blank faces as they began to feel the weight of their belongings as they started to take long strides. " I got a feeling we'll be seeing the rest tomorrow" muttered Juan as he adjusted his bag. Joe glanced at Juan with the corner of his eye only to see the young Mexican continuing to walk forward with his gaze fixated on the truck. " We got to make ourselves look presentable tomorrow which means we'll have to either have to wear our only other set of cloths or wear this dirty uniform." Juan continued with a blunt voice. " We'll need to shower too, all of us. I'm surprised those bitches didn't smell our horrible odor and run away" added Joe with a sarcastic tone; " They probably did but didn't want to make it too obvious" ecstatically said Juan; " Besides you're right, I want to get a nice shower to relax but do you know what I want most of all Joe?" he asked as he put up his finger. "Someone who loves you?" snickered Joe as Juan quickly looked at him with a blank face; " Besides that, what I really want is some fucking good sleep for once." Joe turned his attention towards Juan and his smile suddenly vanished as he opened his mouth and calmly and seriously asked " Nightmares huh?" Juan slowly nodded, his eyes staring straight ahead blankly as his mind quickly went into an abyss of thoughts and emotions. " They've been getting worse man, to the point where I don't know if the next nightmare will be one that will foreshadow the future." Juan's heart sank as he continued " I've seen myself die multiple times in multiple scenarios. Not only that, I still see every match in my head. Every plane that went down, every boy that died." " Its the price we have to pay man, you know this as much as I" muttered Joe. " Ever since the day we joined this club, we knew that we could die in any game. The only thing we can do is to keep looking ahead and hope that our luck will still hold and God still smiles down upon us" he continued. Juan nodded in agreement as they both reached the truck and tossed their bags at the feet of James and Brock. " Can you help us up?" asked Juan as he stuck out his hand at Brock who quickly grabbed it and pulled hard. With a heavy thud Juan landed on the bed of the crowded truck as he turned around and stuck out his arms at Joe. Joe lifted up his guitar case and handed it at Juan who quickly lifted it up as James pulled up Joe with a heavy yank. " Lets go" ordered Juan as he rubbed his eyes and sighed heavily. Doc quickly turned towards the cab and tapped the roof of the cab which created a metallic thud. Within moments the truck lunged forward as its engine roared and clouds of dust went flying underneath as it slowly began to speed up. As it went on it slowly passed the panzer that was parked along the forest's edge. All eyes fell upon the quiet beast as the group of girls where trying to climb aboard. At that moment, Juan's eyes suddenly looked straight at Erwin who was standing on top of the turret. She immediately locked her gaze at him and softly grinned as he waved his hand and smiled in response. The rest of the girls stared wide eyed at the moving truck as it hummed on by while all ten boys smiled and waved at them as they disappeared into the black and blue night.

" They do seem like a happy bunch don't they?" calmly asked Saori as she kept looking at a pair of yellow beams that got smaller and smaller in the distance. " ill give them that, but I'm not sure if you all noticed a slight stench of cigarette smoke hanging in the air when they approached us." asked Yukari as she sat on top of the turret and lightly rubbed her eyes. " I did, but I didn't want to say anything to seem rude" said Erwin as she tried to push Caesar through the two metal htaches on the side of the turret. suddenly, without any warning Caesar rapidly jumped in Erwin's arms as she said in a sluggish and inaudible tone " I don't want to go in jusshh jet, I kan lead my men.. my men into battle... for Rome...for Rom". " jeez, would you quit talking about leading an imaginary army into battle for once" scoffed Erwin as she huffed and finally placed Caesar into the loader's seat after which she immediately fell asleep. Erwin then carefully closed the hatches and slowly climbed towards the top of turret and sat next to Yukari who was staring at the sky above. " Most times I don't know how you ever put up with her?" joked Yukari as she kept starring at the stars that sparkled and gleamed like diamonds. Erwin smiled and looked up as well as she slowly and with a heartfelt tone in her voice said " Mmm, that's funny, I never thought of that before to be honest. maybe I didn't really think about it since I never had an issue. We all have our quirks that make us unique, like how a panther differs from a Tiger or a Panzer... Look at me go, I think you don't even know what I'm saying huh?" Yukari suddenly looked at Erwin with a huge smile across her face as she nodded and softly said" Don't worry, I do" The Panzer suddenly screamed as it came back to life as clouds of smoke erupted from it's exhaust. "We'll be heading off now, lets hope Mako can make it home without falling asleep " cheerfully announced Saori as she yawned and climbed into her hatch and quickly shut it with a clank. Within moments the Panzer moved forward as its metal tracks dug into the dirt, sending it flying everywhere as it began to advance. All of a sudden, the hatch of the commander's cupola swung open as a half-awake Miho cautiously popped her head inch by inch out of the metal opening as Yukari and Erwin both immediately looked at her. " Did I miss something?" she calmly asked as she gently rubbed her eyes. " Something?! Miporin you missed an entire meeting of two different cultures!" loudly said Yukari with eagerness; "Don't worry, ill tell you everything we did and saw about them, and between us they didn't look like the actors Erwin mentioned" she added with joy written in every word. " Its going to be a long one" commented Erwin as she leaned back" Hope I can stay awake" she added with a yawn as she slowly closed her eyes.

* * *

" No lie guys, that chick with the glasses back there had some big tits. The one with the light orange hair. My god I would motor boat the fuck outta them for hours" chuckled Tony as he stuck his head out and shook it violently. " I'm with you there Tony, they all were pretty attractive, but did you see the small one?" asked James with curiosity. " I'm sure we all did, why you want to go after the small one to make up for your tiny Asian pee pee" lazily laughed Brock; " Why you laughing huh? You're Asian too?" added James with brashness. " I'm half from the waist down." said Brock. " You right" smirked James as everybody smirked as they began to sit down and lean against the railings. "I hope this trip to the house doesn't last very long, I'm ready to go to bed" commented Doc as he slowly took off his round glasses with his left hand and gently rubbed his eyes with his right. "yeah" softly agreed Juan as he gently nodded his head; " Ah fuck it, I'm going to try to sleep in this cold then, wake me up when we stop at the house" he added as he placed his bag over his chest and firmly grasped it. " Everybody glanced at him with confused eyes as they looked down at the curled up boy. " If skip's doin' it, I might as well too" abruptly said Tony with a proud, yet sleepy tone as he sat down and grabbed his gear and laid his head against the soft canvas material. " See Tony knows what's up, I'd advise you guys to at least attempt it, besides we don't know how long it will be till we get there" Juan mumbled as he bounced and shook as the truck kept going, his eyes firmly shut. " Well, what if we all fall asleep and we arrive at the house?" asked Joe with curiosity; " Then the driver will have to throw us off the truck then cause I'm not standing up, I'm too comfortable" added Juan with a stuck up tone.

The bright moon slowly crossed the dark starlit sky that slowly was turning into a blueish hue as small clouds lazily drifted about. A steady whoosh of the sea crashing against the ship softly echoed in the background as every house was dark and silent. Shadows danced in the streets and alleys as bright streetlamps illuminated everything in a heavy aura of yellow/white light. A feeling of peace and calm blanketed every neighborhood and street on the carrier as if time stopped still. One by one beams of light flew above the truck as it hummed down street after street passing houses that seemed to be the exact same as the previous creating disfigured and distorted figures that were all sitting in the truck's open bed. Juan's mind slowly began to drift off into the world of dreams as the world around him began to disappear into a sweet darkness. Time seemed to lazily crawl by as he savored every moment of the calm bliss. Turn after turn went by as the truck navigated its way through a never-ending maze of roads and streets that seemed to continue for miles. As Juan and his crew slowly began to get used to the moving truck, it suddenly stopped with a screech as they all jolted forward violently. Juan's eyes quickly opened, darting everywhere as a rush of thoughts invaded his confused mind. " Looks like we made it to our new home" commented Erik as he slowly stood up and put his hands behind his back and leaned backwards. Juan slowly stood up as a strange sensation hit his left leg. Within moments he fell back down as the tingling sensation lingered; " Damn, fucking leg's asleep" he angrily commented. One by one each boy leaped off the back of the truck as they landed on the hard concrete with thuds, their belongings quickly following. Juan slowly began to stand up again as he picked up his bag and walked towards the end of the bed. He slowly turned his head towards his sides and saw multiple two-story houses on each side of the street that were under dozens of black wires that were connected to poles that seemed to pop out in front of every house. A calm feeling was in the air as the truck continued to hum, only being drowned out by a few dogs that began to bark at the new strangers. With a thump Juan landed on the street and turned around and stuck his arms out as Joe handed him his guitar. " Looks like one of those Tentacle Acres doesn't it?" Joe asked as he leaped down holding his bag and the bobble head that violently shook. " Tell me about, with the way these houses look I'm surprised they didn't use large Stone heads instead" Juan replied. The group casually formed a semi circle in the middle of the illuminated street as they looked at both sides of the block, trying to figure out which house will become theirs. As Juan looked with his crew, loud metallic thumps suddenly rang out of the truck; Juan swiftly turned his attention towards the truck and saw that the driver was smacking his arm against the door of the cab. Intrigued, Juan gently walked towards the driver, his eyes concentrating on the open window. When he finally got the side of the cab, Juan glanced at the driver and his attire. He was a middle aged man by the slight wrinkles of his skin which as slightly tan. His hair was short and neatly cut, his eyes weary yet gleamed in the night. He nonchalantly stuck out his sun baked arm holding something in his tightly packed and worn fist. Juan carefully stuck out his hand underneath it as two silver keys dropped out of the man's hand. They clinked and jingled as they fell onto Juan's open hand, shining in the moonlight; the man then pointed at a house that was behind Juan who quickly turned around and faced towards the direction of the man's pointed finger. Juan turned his head back towards the man with an expression on his face that showed query. The man slowly nodded as a soft grin slowly grew across Juan's worn face, " origato" Juan roughly thanked as he bowed. The man smiled as he nodded his head and started to drive off into the darkness. Puffs of smoke came out of the exhaust pipe, quickly dissipating into the night sky as the truck screamed as it drove off, echoing as its red glowing taillights growing smaller and smaller as they disappeared into the sea of lights. " Well boys, according to the driver that house right there is where we will be staying from here on out" Juan commented as he pointed at a beige white two-story house with small green trees adorning the small front yard that was enclosed by a small tan wall. " Wooo" half sarcastically cheered James as everyone stared at their new home in silence.

* * *

Erwin was lying on her back as she gazed upon the millions of stars above her, her mind aimlessly drifting as she stared wide eyed. A cold consistent breeze kept attacking her as she slightly squinted her eyes, soldering on through the chill. A constant hum of the Panzer's engine became a soothing tone to the lover of history. Erwin glanced back at the cupola only to find it tightly shut, and her friend missing. Erwin softly smiled as she turned her attention back towards the sparkling heavens; " I wonder how Guderian will sleep inside that packed turret" she muttered to herself. As she kept thinking, she felt a nudge of the tank as it roughly swerved to the left of the street, immediately breaking her calm trance. Erwin suddenly sat up and crawled towards the thick manlet and peered down at Mako's position. Mako was slowly swerving her head side to side as if she had fallen asleep. Erwin's heart suddenly raced as her eyes darted between Mako and the illuminated street that was passing underneath them. " Mako, Mako wake up, you're still driving!" Erwin whispered with traces of fear in her voice. Silence suddenly consumed her as she kept kneeling, staring at the black haired girl who remained quiet. ' Oh no, what if she already fell asleep.' she immediately thought as a slight feeling of panic suddenly ran through her veins. without a second thought, Erwin gently began to climb down the malnet , grabbing the barrel to support herself when a soft and silent voice abruptly made Erwin stop in her tracks. " I'm awake, but barely though" Erwin looked down at the sleepy girl, only to be met by the top of her black head with a bright white headband. " Don't worry though, we are almost to your house so you don't have to worry about me crashing into anything." continued Mako as she drove. As Erwin sat in the awkward position, a thought quickly shot through her head as she paused all movement and thought deeply; ' Mmm, I don't know very much of anybody else besides my crew and Yukari. Should I ask why she's always sleepy? ' Acting on instinct, she slowly climbed up back on top of the turret's roof and rested her head on her knees as she brought them gently against her chest, her blonde hair glowing brightly in the moon's luscious rays, her eyes hidden under her cap. " Hey Mako, I've been wondering for some time now, why are you always so sleepy when you aren't driving? Every time that I've seen you, you're either fully asleep, falling asleep or in between" An awkward silence suddenly covered the tank as Erwin sat still waiting for a response. Time slowly passed by as she stared straight down the street as house by house went by, street lights covering the Panzer in rays of yellow that quickly disappeared and reappeared. Suddenly, the soft voice spoke again with a blunt and sleepy tone.;" Its because I have low blood pressure, also because of choice too. What about you? Why do you always wear German military clothing?" A gentle grin stretched across Erwin's face as she sighed. " I don't know, guess I fell in love with history so much that wearing it would make me feel like I'm connected to it." Through the rumbling of the panzer Erwin was barely able to hear a loud "Mmmm" come from the girl. " I can see why you and Yukari are both friends" commented Mako loudly; Erwin glanced down at the top of her head. " Its because you two are so weird when it comes to that stuff" Erwin smiled as she quickly asked " Is that a comment or an insult?"; Mako hastily replied with her usual tone" Take it as whatever you want, but I'm only stating the obvious"

* * *

"Keep it down would ya? Don't disturb the neighbors you guys, plus I'm too fucking sleepy so don't be too loud right?" asked Juan with a stern, yet sleepy tone as he turned around and faced his crew that were standing behind him waiting for so he could open the door to their new home. One by one they looked at each other and slowly nodded in agreement as a heavy feeling of weariness hit Juan once again. ' Fucking hell man, it'll feel so great to sleep in a warm bed.' he thought to himself as he walked up to the door and causally stuck in the silver key that gleamed in the moonlight. With all the remaining energy he had left he turned the key and with a loud click the door was unlocked. Juan then slowly turned the handle and gently pushed the door to a dark hallway that lead towards an unknown oblivion. Without a second thought he quickly rushed inside as a loud rush of footsteps quickly followed as everyone charged inside the cold house. As Juan walked forward, his feet suddenly hit a hard object and he tumbled forward as he landed with a thud on the wooden floor. " What the Fuck?!" he angrily yelled as he slowly stood up and rubbed his arms. he turned his body around and saw a large step that was a few feet in front of the door. " There's a step there Skip" commented Joe. " I can see that now, mind giving me a hand instead of telling me the obvious" Juan said as he causally raised himself up as Joe aided him. In the darkness Juan saw steps at one side of the wall the seemed to lead towards darkness. As he slowly continued he came into a large room with a large glass door on the other side that illuminated everything in the usual soft white glow that he was already accustomed to. In the dimly lit room where various types of furniture that ranged from couches to tables and other small various items. His eyes quickly shifted towards three couches that were surrounding a medium sized coffee table that stood gallantly in the middle of the trio. On all four objects were placed neatly folded bundles of blankets and pillows as below the table sat small coil heaters, their metal grills sparkling in the room. " I'm gonna turn on the lights so we can actually see in here, that is if I can find the fucker" announced Joe as he carefully dropped his guitar case and duffle bag. After a few seconds of lightly slapping his hands against the walls he finally hit gold. With a click the lights swiftly turned on as the dark house suddenly came to life as the beige colored walls blinded everyone. " Damn it all" griped Erik as he quickly covered his eyes. " Its like staring straight into the sun" added Chuck with a sleepy distaste. After a few moments of painful griping and yelling, everyone cautiously opened their eyes as they adjusted to the brightly lit house. Everyone looked around the spacious living room as they all dropped their bags on the cold wooden floor. " wait a minute guys, we have to take our shoes off when we enter homes" swiftly said Rick as he quickly ran back to the door and sat down next to 10 pairs of different colored slippers. " Why should we do that?" curiously asked Erik with a hint of agitation in his voice. " Well, its a tradition over here and we cant be disrespectful to the culture" said Rick as he began to take off his shoes. " Well I'm too tired to do that, ill put my shoes there in the morning" replied Erik as he began to walk down a hallway. " But you gotta take off your damn shoes first" continued Rick; " You have to do it too Skip" he added as he quickly looked at Juan. Juan's face turned blank as he rubbed his eyes and yawned. " Rick, I'm sorry man but I'm too damn sleepy and I'm going to be with Erik here; if I got to choose between sleep and tradition well tradition can fuck off " he bluntly said. Suddenly, James tossed his bag towards a wall and stretched out his arms as he said" well then, where's the bathroom in here since I've been holding in a massive crap since we left the crash site". " Don't you clog the toilet like last time" commented Brock as James started to snoop around each doorway. " Rest easy boys, we've been through a lot of shit the past two days so it'll be alright to oversleep" announced Juan with a quiet tone as he began to remove his Mae vest.

As the Panzer slowly rumbled in front of the History Club's house, a huge surge of sleepiness overcame Erwin as she groggily stepped between the turret hull and the protective armor. With a metallic clang she opened up the double hatch doors to be greeted by a knocked out Caesar. Erwin half sleepily glanced at her and slowly started to tap her shoulder. A calm silence covered the darkened neighborhood as the Panzer's Maybach engine coarsely idled; a few dogs suddenly started barking in the night interrupting the quaint moment. Erwin kept on tapping Caesar's shoulder as she began to make slight faces; " Uh... no give ...me five more minutes" she said in an almost inaudible slur. Erwin frowned as she began to hit her friend's shoulder even harder. After a few punches Caesar finally came to and with a very displeased tone barked " I'm up.. what's so important that you had to wake me?!" " We're home" calmly replied Erwin as she stepped aside the hatch as Caesar rubbed her eyes and looked at the house. She grunted as she slowly began to climb out of the hatch, making tones and noises that resembled an annoyed dog; "Bout' time" she sleepily said. Erwin casually leaped off the tank and landed in front of the brick wall that surrounded her home. She immediately raised her arms towards Caesar who was groggily kneeling, ready to leap off the tank. With a sloppy movement, she jumped off and roughly landed between Erwin's arms that buckled against the weight. Erwin then adjusted Caesar's arm over her shoulder and started to limp, carrying to what appeared to her in that moment to be dead weight. " Thanks Mako, I hope we can continue our conversation. Its nice finding out new things about people" she said at the small girl. Mako nodded and immediately switched gears and the Panzer came back to life and began to drive off. Erwin stood still as she saw the tank slowly disappear into the night, its engine echoing throughout the neighborhood. A smile stretched across Erwin's face as she kept staring into the night, which quickly switched into a frown as Caesar grunted.


	18. Chapter 18

( usually don't say to play music while you read my story, but as I wrote the last two paragraphs I kept listening to fire starter by Torre florim, trying to get a devilish feeling but I feel I didn't do well enough. If you want to listen to it as you read as I have, go ahead)

" Come on you" mumbled Erwin as she lugged Caesar on her shoulders," you'll soon be in a bed" she added with agitation. Minutes slowly passed by as the duo limped to the front door. ' Where did I leave you' Erwin thought to herself as she quickly attacked her pockets searching for the key to her home. The cold air began to finally get to her as it hit her harder than before; " Come on, where did I leave you" she mumbled to herself, traces of agitation and desperation within each word. Her hand suddenly felt a small, hard object at the very bottom of her right pocket; " there you are" she added with relief. With a swift movement, her hand grasped the key and flung it out of her pocket and straight into the lock; she then turned it as it clicked. With a soft smile she opened the door and walked inside with the dead weight. As she closed the door, she tossed her flip flops onto the neatly lined pairs of shoes at one side of the hallway. Erwin then placed Caesar who was already sleeping onto the wall and proceeded to take off her shoes; ' at least you aren't much of a problem when you're asleep' joked Erwin as she easily removed her friend's shoes. She then grabbed her friend once again and began to walk towards their rooms. CREAK, CREAK went the floor as they continued onwards. Erwin's heart raced as she began to slow down, her eyes quickly glancing at Saemonza's and Oryou's rooms, her ears focusing hard. She held her breath as soon as she heard movement in both rooms. A tense feeling suddenly appeared over her as she began to fear the outcome if both of the other club members woke up in rage. Erwin stood still, her arms beginning to feel weak as Caesar was sleeping away; her eyes and ears attuned to the slightest of movement and sound. After a few moments that seemed to be hours, Erwin carefully began to walk again, watching every step that she took. 'Damn this floor is cold' she cursed as her eyes fell upon her and Caesar's rooms. A feeling of happiness suddenly took over her mind as she quickly rushed in front of Caesar's, quickly flinging the door to the side which made a semi-loud wooden bang. Erwin disregarded her actions, wanting to finish the whole ordeal walked into her friend's room boldly and loudly, quickly laying Caesar on the bed and walking back towards the doorway in a flash. With a puff she looked back and saw that Caesar already covered herself with a thick red blanket and was peacefully sleeping away, much to Erwin's obvious discontent. " I swear she sleeps on instinct" Erwin mumbled as she slid the door and walked towards her room. With a soft scratching, she opened her door and peered inside the dark room in which a corner was covered in an aura of light from a digital alarm clock. Erwin smiled as she quickly walked in, closing the door behind her as she swiftly removed her cap and tossed it on a small table on one side of the room. She then quickly leaped face first into the soft, heaven like mattress and quickly grabbed her blanket and flung it over her weary body.

* * *

I'm calling this room over here" exclaimed James as he walked up the stairs, quickly being followed by Joe, and two others. Juan sat gently sat down on one of the large sofas, making a quiet 'poof' as he leaned back and removed his crush cap and tossing it on the coffee table. He rubbed his eyes and let out a sigh, his body going limp as it melted onto the puffy and soft couch. Juan closed his eyes, his mind slowly beginning to drift away in peace when suddenly a voice quickly broke him from his trance; "Skip, there ain't enough beds for all of us". "What?" asked Juan with a blunt and slightly angry tone; his head tilting backwards to see Joe standing behind him. " Who doesn't have a room then?" Juan grumbled as he stretched out his arms across the top of the couch. Joe looked down and laughed as he said with a blunt tone" Well, you and Chuck since you guys didn't say or do anything. Some of the guys have decided to bunk together, thanks in part to some inflatable mattresses Tony found." Juan stared blankly as Joe continued; " That being said however, we are two short" Juan's face remained the same until a single thought suddenly hit him; " Wait, you said that me and Chuck don't have beds? Chuck?!' Juan exclaimed as he quickly looked in front of him and saw Chuck staring right back at him. Juan's heart stopped when he realized what he's done; ' Damn, did I just ignore two people today? Is my peripheral vision fucking up? This isn't good Juan, you know this; you loose your vison, you loose your life' Juan thought as he kept staring blankly at Chuck. Chuck quickly smiled as he took of his shoes and placed them by the side of his couch; " Its alright Skip, it doesn't hurt me man if you didn't see me, I get that a lot" he said as he trailed off. Juan's faced slightly tensed; "its not just that, I just have to keep paying attention. Loosing sight of your surroundings can cost you your life, trust me I know very well first hand on many occasions" Chuck and Joe suddenly stared at Juan, their faces blank as their eyes showing traces of surprise and intrigue. Juan kept staring back at Chuck whose eyes returned the gaze, casually, Juan turned around and glanced at Joe who was also giving him the same blank, beady stare. Juan quickly thought of hundreds of things to say to break the awkwardness as he sat still, his head slowly turning towards a heater that was sitting beside the coffee table. " You know guys, its getting pretty late and pretty chilly, Hey Joe you sure you guys got enough heaters to warm Yall up?" Juan said with a strange calmness ridden in every word. Joe kept staring at Juan as moments passed, his face slightly tightening up as he slowly squinted his eyes. With a casual tone he slowly said with a heavy southern accent " Yeah... I reckon we got enough heaters. Seems like everyone already turned in for the night already. Now the real question is will ya'll be alright sleeping on these couches?" Juan nodded as he reached for the coffee table and grabbed a bright white pillow that felt like a soft cloud of puff and a soft, silk like blanket. " I know ill be alright, this isn't the first time I've slept on a couch, and I doubt it'll be the last. What bout' you Chuck, are you alright sleeping there?" asked Juan as he quickly looked at Chuck who was lunging towards the coffee table. Chuck quickly glanced at him and nodded in agreement. " Well that settles it, looks like we'll stay here for the night" Juan smiled as he took of his long sleeve shirt and placed it on top of the sofa. Joe rubbed his eyes and rubbed his neck as he began to turn around; " Alright then, I'm heading off, night you two" he said as he walked off. " Would you be so kind to turn off the lights man?" hastily asked Juan as he peered behind him. The lights suddenly went out as footsteps echoed throughout the quiet house; " Thanks Joe" said Juan in the darkness. All of a sudden, a bright orange glow covered the living room as a low hum echoed throughout. Juan quickly turned and saw Chuck adjusting a shiny black knob on the heater, its coils burning brightly in the dark room. Juan's mind went blank, his eyes aimlessly glaring at the bright glow, a glow he knew all too well.

* * *

Erwin turned and turned in her bed as the night slowly went on, her eyes scanning every inch of her darkened room that was neatly cluttered with books and memorabilia. " Damn it all, why can't I sleep now? I was falling over about half an hour ago!" she thought to herself in agitation as she re-adjusted herself again. She turned over and saw her digital clock that glowed brightly in the room as it showed in bright neon numbers '11:03'. Erwin grumbled to herself as she laid still and looked straight at her ceiling, her eyes unblinking as her mind drowned itself in countless thoughts. Suddenly, a thought outshined the rest as she squinted her eyes; " That's right, I wanted to find out what GAC means" she softly said to herself as she causally sat up in the darkness. " Seems like this would be a good time than any" she added. She slowly stood up and walked to her door, carefully placing her steps so she wouldn't wake up the rest. With a gentle hand she slid open her door and began her long and treacherous walk to the living room where the club's desktop was at. " I should really ask for my parents to buy my a laptop before we make port so they'll have it ready" she whispered to herself as she quickly took a deep breath and started to tip toe towards the living room which appeared to be a mile away. ' Come on Erwin, is seeking knowledge really worth going through all this trouble' she thought to herself as she slowly walked through the hallway, her feet touching the cold wooden floor with every step she took; " Its always worth it" she mumbled. She slowly and cautiously walked as though she was crossing a minefield, her eyes switching between the wooden boards below her and the target that was ahead. CREAK suddenly went a board, echoing throughout the deathly silent house. Erwin held her breath as her head quickly turned in every direction. Everything remained quiet as the night went on; Erwin quickly regained herself and with two giant steps stealthily leaped to the entrance of the living room. " thank goodness we took that ninja class a while back, even though it wasn't what we expected it to be" Erwin chuckled to herself as she looked straight at a computer that was on one side of the big room. A bright blue light blinked beneath a medium sized monitor that was surrounded by a mountain of papers, pencils and books. She softly grabbed the rolling chair and sat down on its cushion as she moved the mouse. A few seconds went by until the monitor flashed to life, its screen creating a gentle white aura that illuminated part of the corner, while it faded everywhere else within the room. Erwin gazed upon the screen of the computer that had a collage of famous historical figures, battle and flag, its icons brightly contrasting the background. 'Lets see, uh internet, internet, there it is' Erwin thought to herself as she moved the pointer to the well known 'E" and clicked it. The screen suddenly turned a bright white which then quickly changed as Japanese adds and news articles popped up with a blank search bar in the middle. She slowly looked down at the black keyboard that was below her; clicking slowly three letter keys as they slightly echoed in the room. Her eyes slowly rolled up as she quickly clicked the mouse as her mind began to ponder multiple thoughts, her heart slightly beating faster as she waited to see what would appear before her. All of a sudden, she was greeted by a multitude of different sites that all used the acronym she was looking for, each meaning something different from the last. ' Damn it all, I didn't think it would be this hard' she thought as she softly grumbled. As she scanned at each site, her focus suddenly shifted to the first site on the roster which had the word 'aviation' within the text. ' That might be it' she thought as she gently moved the mouse, the cursor quickly flying on the pixilated screen. With a click she was quickly transported to a multi-colored screen as multiple small popups appeared along with search bars, pictures, videos and at the very top of the page a bold, proud emblem that had the world with two bird wings on each side. Erwin sat back, perplexed on her discovery, her eyes darting from one part of the page to the other.

"Jeez, I don't even think Sensha-do has this much on their website, if they even have one that is" Erwin whispered as she began to look at the page and figure out where to go. " Its all in English, I wonder if there is a language option around here" Erwin whispered as she scanned the page. She then saw a bar at the very top left of the screen with the word 'ENGLISH' in bold. She then moved her mouse over and clicked on a little arrow that was beside the word. Within an instant a scroll of different languages appeared. She scrolled down until she saw her familiar Japanese. With a click the page refreshed as all the words and sentences changed to kanji. " Mmm, lets see.. history... history, ah there" Erwin said to herself as she found her first objective. With a click the page quickly changed as paragraphs appeared with multiple photos. Erwin's eyes quickly went to work as she scanned each and every line, looking for answers to her already growing list of questions. " Seems like this is a sport like ours. Created around the same time as Sensha-do. Seems to be more popular in the west than the east apparently" Erwin mumbled to herself as she clicked on different black and white images that had young boys standing in front of bi-planes. Erwin suddenly stopped in her tracks; ' Interesting, this club started as an acrobatics and race centered sport for boys until 1953, when a 16 year old U.S student illegally added a weapon to his plane to insure first place.' Erwin slowly kept on reading, her mind beginning to fill with curiosity and intrigue. ' He shot down two fellow racers, killing both as they crashed in flames and made into first. He was quickly kicked out and put on trail for murder while the public began to get a interest in seeing dogfights, the legendary battles between aces and flyers occur right in front of them. He got the death penalty when he reached the age of 18 while the Aviation Club officially transformed itself into some sort of a battle royal.' Erwin stopped and looked blankly at the screen as her head began to fill with more questions as an uneasy feeling began to brew in her stomach, her soul beginning to feel empty. " Why would they do that? This sounds horrid to any sane person. We fight but at least safety is a number one priority. Deaths only occur from stupidity or accidents, but this is only for killing. Who would actually do this?" she softly said to herself. She quickly regained her position and continued reading away, her desire to know more taking over. 'At the same time, juvenile criminals began to increase. As a way to discourage others, criminals were given the option to either spend time in jail or join the aviation club in order to clean their records'. "Jeez, its harsh either way, either going to jail or die, what was going through these peoples brains" she commented, anger in every word. "however as a payment, each student in the bomber divisions who participated in 25 games and lived through them was given a certain amount of cash, that amount being roughly close to Two Thousand dollars!" Erwin exclaimed as she read over the same line over and over, making sure it was right. " Money, actual money. All we get is school related prizes, but these boys are getting paid with real money. This takes the phrase blood money to a whole new level." " fighter pilots get paid $100 for every plane they shoot down. I guess I can see that for being an incentive to joining, but still; this whole thing gives me a strange ugly feeling that I want to go away" Erwin said gently as she rubbed her stomach. " Maybe I'm done for the night" she commented as she was getting ready to get out of her seat when something caught her eye." Aces" she whispered with intrigue as she slowly moved the cursor over the link. Erwin slowly looked around herself as she carefully clicked the mouse, her eyes scanning for any uninvited guests. The page suddenly changed as a list appeared with a photo at the beginning of each name which had a big and bold number beside it denoting their places. Erwin's eyes gazed upon the multitude of pictures of boys that ranged from age to nationality. At the very top was a young man who had nicely defined facial features, a fade that had bright, blond hair that seemed to cascade to the back of his head. He was wearing a black leather Luftwaffe styled jacket and giving a cocky grin, his crystal blue eyes sparkling straight at Erwin whose heart skipped a beat as she kept looking back at him. After some time, Erwin snapped from her gaze and looked at the individual's name; " Michael Hartmann... Hartmann...Hartmann!" Erwin softly exclaimed as she hastily clicked on the boy's profile. Her eyes quickly glanced at everything, as if it was a primal lust of sorts. " Oh my, he's a direct descendant of Erich Hartmann himself!" Erwin quickly imagined herself dancing with the fellow that was on her screen, her soul quickly fluttering as her heart and head were quickly enveloped with the boy's charm. "Lets see, he's 5'10, has around six thousand fans that follow him on his socials, looks like ill have some competition, and has exactly.." Erwin slowly stopped as her eyes fell upon a statistic she was hoping not to see, her heart beating slowly as her mind came back into reality from her very short dream. " 281 kills.." Erwin sat still in the dimly lighted room as the number hit her like a brick; "he's shot down 281 pilots.. kids pretty much" Erwin suddenly felt a slight distaste in her mouth. " looks like he's trying to beat his ancestor's record for most areal kills in history" she mumbled to herself. She then backed out and started scrolling through names and photos.

* * *

" Well I'm calling it a night" Juan softly said as he stared at the ceiling, the heater softly humming in the background. " Alright Chief" commented Chuck as he was adjusting himself on his sofa. Silence overtook the house as everybody began to settle down for the night, the neighborhood going back to it's peace and tranquility as the barking of dogs died out; the moon slowly settling up high as the new day was approaching. Juan began to feel his eyes grow heavy as he turned to his side, his mind going blank as peace began to consume it. " Hey Skip, you're still awake?" suddenly asked a voice. " W-what?" mumbled Juan as his head began to go back to its normal chaotic nature; " I was wondering if I can ask a question, if you don't mind that is?" Juan slowly turned around and saw Chuck was sitting with blank expression on his face. Juan groaned as he slowly sat up" Fuck it, better now otherwise ill forget. What do ya want to know?". Chucks face suddenly tightened as he thought for a moment. After a few seconds, chuck asked with a sotto voce " Its, about the match we had yesterday". " yeah, what about it?" retorted Juan as he stared down his waist gunner. " I remember during the mess we had against those Jap fighters, you yelled about one who made a very, very close pass against us". Juan's eyebrows rose an inch as he abruptly squinted his eyes as Chuck continued; " You knew who he was didn't you?". Juan remained silent, a strange feeling began to fill the room as stiff silence took over the pair. " I read about him on the website, he's a pretty good pilot by what it said" Juan doggedly answered, his gaze shifting towards the heater. " I know you're lying Juan, you know him personally. The way you said it on the comm sounded like you were surprised and scared at the same time about him showing up. I just want to know, do you know him personally?" Chuck asked bug-eyed, his eyes gleaming as his face illuminated with a soft orange glow. A grave look quickly appeared on Juan's face, an uneasy feeling emitting from the Mexican as he sat deathly still, his mind deep in thought. Minutes slowly passed as Chuck anxiously waited to hear a response from his friend. After five minutes of silence , slack-jawed, Juan slowly spoke with a slightly annoyed tone; " yeah, I know that fuck personally. He's a damn good fighter, damn good." A quizzical expression appeared on Chuck's face as Juan reluctantly continued. " His name's Takashi.. something, couldn't even remember his last name so we all called him 'The Jap'. He's Japan's current leading ace I believe, but its been a while since I last checked or even going against him and his group, but guess I was wrong ." Chuck's face went blank as his mind tried to comprehend what he just heard; " So..s..so wait a minute, you went against him!?" Juan grit his teeth as he nodded his head and closed his eyes" Guess its about time then" he commented to himself. "about time? to sleep?" asked Chuck with confusion and remorse; Juan's eyes snapped at him. With a fixed gaze, Juan said with a monotonous voice " I know a lot about you and the rest of the guys, but you boys don't know anything about me. What I'm about to tell you I haven't even told Joe or the others"

* * *

As Erwin was scrolling, her eyes shining in the darkness as they glanced at kill counts, stats and deaths , she suddenly stopped as her eyes fell upon a familiar, friendly face. Her eyes narrowed as she slowly brought over the cursor over an image of tan-skinned teen that she barely met the previous night. her heart began to pick up pace as a wave of curiosity and interest hit her like an 88 shell. "Damn, what was his name again" she grumbled as she looked down at the desk and put her hands against the side of her head; ' Damn it Erwin, you can remember a million of dates and scenarios but you cant remember the name of a BOY!' she screamed in her head. After a few moments, she swiftly remembered as she smiled "It was Juan, he said his name was Juan. I cant understand that language but at least I understood that" She sighed as she looked up at the bright screen again, her gaze falling upon the name that was beside the image. " Next semester I'm going to force myself to stop putting off a foreign language class. Either way, I think the boy from last night is the guy I'm seeing here. Lets see, he's rank 60 globally... 60? He's not in a bad position since its globally " She quickly clicked on the image and the same stats appeared again. "yeah, its him alright but I'm wondering why he came in a B-17 if here it shows him that he is a fighter pilot." Erwin slowly went over each stat and date as her intrigue began to grow more and more, her finger slowly moving the scroll button.

* * *

Juan looked straight at the heater, the orange glow showering the entirety of the room in a warm hue of yellowish orange that resembled hell itself. A feeling of tension and sorrow overhung Juan and Chuck. Slowly, with a blunt and serious tone Juan said " I was a public school fighter pilot back in California, LA to be exact about a year ago before I came to Georgia" Chuck's eyes widened as he leaned in closer, his curiosity taking full control, "Public School? I thought only those private school carriers were allowed to use fighters." "They were at first, but a little group of schools have fighters instead of bombers, like for example our escort from yesterday, they are from a public school" Juan replied; Chuck nodded in acknowledgement. Juan continued, his eyes glancing straight at Chuck, his pupils reflecting the orange that covered the room, creating flames that danced within his bloodshot eyes. "I went to Arcadia High School which was about 30 min. to an hour from the International Airport, depending on traffic that is. At first i flew in a P-40N ,but later transferred to an F4U-1A during my first year in high school. At first we were called the Southside Skulls cause our P-40's had skulls and tiger mouths painted on the sides of the engines like the AVG and the 89th FS back in WWII. Later on we changed our name to the Wolfpack, which still to me sounds pretty generic but I couldn't do anything about it." Juan glanced down as he clutched his hands, his mind thinking about a past that still brightly burned in his head. " How long were you a pilot there?" abruptly asked Chuck; " two years, since freshman year" rapidly answered Juan as he continued to look down. Chuck thought in his head what he would say next, knowing his next words may make Juan say more or shut down completely. Chuck slowly gulped as he continued with caution; " How many games did you participate in?" Juan remained silent as his sat, his eyes were staring at something that seemed to be over the horizon. A feeling of dread covered Chuck, his eyes staring at Juan who remained motionless and quiet. " I've lost count, but I was in many games." Juan answered; " Why did you join?" rapidly added Chuck as Juan finished. Juan remained silent as he casually leaned back into the couch; his face tightening. " things that even now I don't want to talk about" he finally said, much to Chuck's dismay; " I'm sorry to ask that Skip, well were you scared?" " Of course I was, I always was. All of us were but we pushed that feeling to the back cause we knew if that feeling took us over, we would be killed." Juan responded with a serious tone as he slightly flung his hand in the air. " Did you ever think that you were going to die?" added Chuck. " Many times, almost every time I got up" Juan roughly replied with an unreadable face.

" Did you have a nickname?" Chuck asked as he rubbed his eyes; Juan nodded " I was called 'Lanza llama', which in English translates to Flamethrower." " Why?" pondered Chuck with a morbid curiosity. " Cause I used AP, incendiary and tracers for all my matches, basic load out for all but I used more tracer and incendiary. Everything those things touched, turned to flame" Juan humbly replied in the same blunt tone, snapping his fingers. " Do you get nightmares, or get a feeling of regret for killing all of those pilots?" worriedly asked Chuck. Juan's eyes glanced at the heater as small planes made of flames suddenly appeared flying out of the heater chasing each other as fiery contrails swirled and intertwined throughout the room. Plane after plane swirled towards the ground as they disappeared into the darkness. Flames quickly appeared in Juan's eyes as distant machine gun fire and echoes of mechanical explosions blanketed the room, whizzing of engines mixing in the chaos. Chuck stared at Juan with a worried look as he looked upon his pilot whose face and eyes went blank, his mind delving deeper into itself as it revealed things that began to burn inside Juan's mind and thoughts. Juan then slowly turned towards a glass door that was at one end of the living room; as flames danced and flickered within it. His eyes suddenly gazed upon an entity that abruptly appeared out of the flames as it became clearer and cleaner. A strange, black and uneasy feeling filled the room as Juan's heart raced. He suddenly came face to face with himself, his reflection glowered back at him. Blood covered its darkened face that shined in the fire, its eyes blackened as two bright, white glowing pupils gleamed like the hottest flame. A large pointed glass shard came out on one side of its temple as it gleamed, blood dripping from its wound. An angry expression was etched on its horrid complexion as it stared at Juan, rage emitting from the reflection. Juan stared at his reflection, his mind slowly coming back into reality as he began to softly chuckle with a grin, his eyes burning with flames as his face darkened.


	19. Chapter 19

(Sorry if this chapter seemed odd, had some trouble here placing and writing out things)

As Erwin clicked and viewed different pictures and stats about the boy that began to take over her train of thought, she suddenly stopped and thought on why she kept going. She glanced towards the clock at the bottom of the screen; '11:59'. " This isn't a primal lust or anything of the sort" she whispered to herself as she looked back up to a picture of Juan who was gently smiling as his hair flew in the wind. She studied the picture and saw that the boy's hair was slightly shorter and that his attire was starkly different from Hartmann. " Ever since I laid my eyes upon that fellow I had a feeling he was odd" she smirked as she began to scroll down again until she found links to videos midway through Juan's profile page. Erwin's eyebrows rose an inch as she gazed upon the links, her mind going blank for a second. Without thinking, she quickly moved her cursor over the third link and clicked as fast as she could. Within moments she was transported to a popular video site as the video buffered for a moment; Erwin's heart beginning to race as her mind quickly thought up of multiple things she would see. "HELLO AND GOOD..." blurted out the speakers, echoing throughout the house loudly as Erwin's eyes popped out of their sockets as she abruptly clicked on the pause button. 'Crap I forgot to plug in the headphones!' she scolded herself as she held her breath and slowly leaned down the hallway that contained their rooms. Her eyes bounced around in the darkness, her ears attuned to hear any scuffle or movement. Minutes slowly crawled by as she kept staring in the darkness as she slowly breathed; " Damn that was close" she whispered. She slowly scrutinized with the desk as she was trying to find her target. Her hand suddenly felt something and with a happy expression suddenly appearing on her face she pulled out a pair of large, shiny black and green headphones which she quickly placed on top of her head and with a click plugged in the headset. She then glanced at the settings and wondered if the video would be in the language she wouldn't be able to understand. She slowly moved her mouse as the cursor hovered over the gear. After a few second she clicked her language's subtitles and quickly clicked the mouse again and leaned into her chair, her full attention towards the illuminated computer screen. "..afternoon everyone as we are covering live from Los Angeles California for another exciting match for the quarter finals of the Global Aviation Club's fighter world championship." said a smiling reporter in English as he held the mic close to his face. Erwin glanced at the bottom of the screen as kanji quickly appeared. Suddenly she heard Japanese as the recording cut to a middle-aged Japanese man wearing a grey suit with a bright yellow tie as he announced what had been previously stated. " Geez they really go all out for this sport" Erwin commented. "We are here today for the quarter finals between the United States and Japan as two pairs of teams will face off against each other in heart-racing aerial combat to see who will come on top and take their country to the semi-finals! I am Bruce Hutchinson, Joining me from the land of the rising sun is my co-reporter Hiroi Takuya!" proudly and happily said the American reporter as he gestured to his co-star. The Japanese man bowed and smiled as he spoke in a heavy accent. " Tank you Bruce, I am very happi to be here now as we watch these brave shtudents go agains each other". Erwin stared at the monitor wide eyed as she looked at the two individuals, a slight feeling of uneasiness towards the emotions of the reporters quickly embracing her. "The match will be two hours away so until then we will be interviewing some pilots from both teams to get an inside look after this short commercial break" said the American reported as he quickly smiled, his white teeth shining in the late afternoon sun. The screen turned black as Erwin sat in the darkness, her mind processing everything she just heard and saw. A moment passed by when suddenly the screen sparked back to life as the Japanese reporter came into view.

" I am Hiroi Takuya here on the airstrip that has the brave and fearless pilots from our country as they talk about tactics and do final checkups on their aircraft" said the man in Japanese. Erwin glanced behind the man and saw lines of shiny dark green A6M Zeroes, Ki-43 Oscars and camouflaged Ki-61's, their natural metal skin shining and gleaming brightly in the sun as patches of dark green painted beautiful patterns, as if tattoos on pale flesh, contrasted the glimmer yet at the same time added a new layer of beauty to gaze upon. The camera zoomed in towards the parked fighters as multiple figures surrounded each aircraft, their arms pointing towards different parts of the planes. " The two teams that are before us are Tokyo metropolitan High and Kobe Central High which are still a tad green, but after their last victory against the Italians spirits and moral are at an all time high. They are under the watch of Tokyo's aces, which include our county's highest, and most skilled pilot Takashi Kyouko! " announced the reporter. With an out-stretched arm, he pointed towards a uniquely painted Zero that had a pale green color with dark green pointed stripes covering the entire aircraft and which was adorned with kill marks on one side of the fuselage. Erwin then noticed that all the fighters had bright red and well maintained Hinomarus with a bright white symbol in all of them. " That must be their school's emblem" she whispered to herself. " Ah, there's our ace right there, checking his machine so it'll be at its peak performance!" happily commented the man as he motioned for the camera to follow him as they strolled toward a pilot wearing a dark khaki flight suit and a bright white bandana with a red circle in the middle, and black writing all over it. " Mr. Kyouko, would you be so kind if you can give us a few minutes of your time to interview you for our audience back home." asked the reporter as he bowed with his arms at his sides. The young pilot stood still with a blank expression on his defined face which quickly turned into a cocky grin as he nodded his head; "Sure". " Thank you very much Mr. Kyouko" thanked the man as he bowed again. Erwin looked at the pilot and was suddenly surprised to see the boy's hair which was spiked with light green highlights. 'You cant be serious, this is our highest scoring ace?! A guy who looks like he'll be in a shonen?' she thought to herself as she stared at the computer screen. " Mr. kyouko some of your fans are wondering what's written on your iconic bandana?" The boy glanced up towards his head; " Oh this? You cant be serious, if they truly were my fan's they'd know what's written on here" answered the boy with a snobbish and self centered attitude. "Guy seems to be full of himself, and he is our highest scoring ace.' Erwin whispered with a blunt and annoyed tone; 'However, maybe its some inspiring words or even a beautiful poem' she thought to herself as the video continued. " But if you truly must know, and for my newer fans. What I wear on my head is my most valuable treasure that I keep within eyesight at all times! This bandana has signatures of Anime's most well loved and famous actresses including up and coming ones" he said with a proud tone. 'WHAT!?' screamed Erwin in her head as she turned her head sideways, her mouth gaping open in utter confusion. " Everyone knows your an avid fan of anime and visit conventions whenever you can" commented the reporter; "yes that's true, I usually stay in my room and only come out for practice or conventions" added Takashi with a smile. Erwin's whole body went numb as her mind completely went blank as if it completely shattered, her wide eyes reflecting the computer screen. ' O..our leading ace, is..is..an Otaku!?' she finally thought.

" So Mr. Kyouko, are you nervous about the upcoming match against the Americans?" asked the reporter as he leaned in the mic closer to the young pilot as the camera zoomed closer. With a confident tone and a slight smug grin the boy answered; " In all respects no, but however me and my comrades will keep our heads on a constant swivel". The mic vanished from the screen as the reporter's monotone voice asked another question; " So do you think the Americans will be easy to fight against and you and your teams will be in a turkey shoot?" The boy's smug grin suddenly disappeared as his face slightly tightened, his eyes staring at something that seemed to be miles away. The mic suddenly appeared waiting for a quick response from a boy who suddenly appeared to have shut himself in. Erwin's eyebrows raised an inch as she scratched her chin with intrigue. " In all honesty Mr. reporter" suddenly replied the pilot with a tense tone in his voice. "If we were going against some pilots from the US. school ships then maybe since most of those pilots are reckless and stupid since they are glory hunters, but the ones we are going to fight today, lets just say these guys really, and I mean really give us some trouble" "Are you saying that they are better?" "I didn't say that. I'm just saying out of all most US fighter teams, the two we are going against we have respect for. Their planes look like garbage hauled from a scrap heap, but they know how to use them, effectively. All of those pilots are very good." added the pilot whose demeanor and tone was slowly changing. " have you ever heard of these two Americans schools Mr. reporter?" abruptly asked Takashi as he pointed his finger. " N..no..no I haven't" replied the man shakily; " Arcadia, the ones flying Corsairs. All of the pilots who are aces have bright white nose cowlings on their planes. The only reason I know that is because I've went against them many times before, and almost every time I nearly get shot DOWN. The other school, the ones flying P-38's with shark mouths and snakes painted on their engines, almost all of them are either seniors with lots of kills under their belts or underclassmen gaining kills. Do I feel scared about going against them, no but I'm not letting up my surroundings cause I know they will take full advantage of it. Now if you'll excuse me I must get back to doing final check ups with my crew chief"

" Well that was Takashi Kyouko, number one ace of Tokyo Metropolitan and Japan. We'll be going over there and talk to some pilots of Kobe Central and listen to their thoughts" announced the man. Erwin stretched out her arms and yawned as she glanced down at the clock; 'I should start going to bed then, its already late as it is'. dhe thought as she was quickly interrupted. " What's your name young man?" asked the man as he leaned the microphone to a young boy who was in the middle of a small group of neatly dressed pilots who were laughing and chatting between themselves. The boy stared wide eyed at the man until his sense kicked in and with a professional tone and demeanor replied " I am Kichiro Mitsou, freshman at Kobe Central High." The man nodded and continued; " Are you nervous about the match?" " No, not in the slightest. Ever since we kicked that Italian school's behind we all feel that we are invincible." replied the boy with an enthusiastic tone in his voice. " Besides, have you seen the aircraft we are going against. They look more like heaps of junk than actual flying machines" " I've heard most of those pilots are very good" commented the reporter with a blunt voice; " if they fly those things, they must be" joked another boy as everyone else chuckled. " So why did you join then?" asked the man as he turned his attention back to Kichiro. Kichiro gulped as he scratched his head and with an innocent smile, his eyes shimmering as his hair flew in the wind. With a slight shy tone he responded " Well, to be honest I did it for a girl". Everyone started to cheer as the man then followed up with another question,curiosity ridden in every word. " Would you share with us the name of your sweetheart?" The boy suddenly blushed, his face becoming red as a strawberry as the rest of the boys slapped his back and slightly pushed him, all cheering and laughing. The boy glanced down at the ground as he built up courage to speak as the friendly chastising continued. Erwin looked on as her mind went blank, a strange warm feeling brewing in her heart. ' Who is she' she finally thought as she got closer to the screen, her curiosity taking over yet again, though for a different and unrelated purpose. " Well" suddenly said the boy as he kept looking down; " I don't want to say her name, but all I can say is that she goes to Chi-Ha-Tan Academy, she's a freshman just like me" he added with a surprising bellow of pride. "Ooooo" suddenly rang out the boys as the reporter smiled. " Ah so she's a Senshado girl eh?" the reporter happily commented. The boy nodded his head; " yeah, I've known her for a while and when she told me one day she was going to Chi-Ha-Tan, I felt like I wasn't good enough for her you know? So I decided to join the aviation club to show her I'm brave" Everybody went quiet as they all stared wide eyed at the young boy. Erwin sensed a feeling of respect emitting from all of his comrades as their faces turned serious, as if they were also thinking of ones they loved. " I painted a white rose on my tail since she loves roses, and so she'll be able to see me when I'm flying" added the boy with joyous pride as he pointed to a dark green zero with a big, bright white rose on its tail. They man's face turned slightly somber as he tried to muster a fake smile and with traces of sadness in his voice he asked one more question; " Well son, do you think your friend will watch you?" The boy's face went blank for an instant as he thought. With an innocent grin that was brighter than the sun he replied " I hope she does, cause after this match I'm going to tell her how I've truly felt about her and ask her to be my girlfriend". The man smiled, a smile Erwin quickly noticed was fake. She glanced at the man's eyes and saw that they were full of sorrow; " Well then, we vill ve going to my partner over to the American team and shee how they vill be feeling about the upcoming match ryte after thish break" said the repoter in English as he turned towards the camera which slowly panned towards the lines of Japanese aircraft. The screen suddenly went dark once again as Erwin sat in the darkness with nothing but her thoughts to keep her company.

* * *

The humming from the heater continued as Juan and Chuck were laying down in their sofas, their eyes staring at the ceiling above as their minds drifted beyond the room and sky. " Did you have many fans?" quietly asked Chuck as he placed his arms behind his head. Juan softly smiled and shook his head; Nah, compared to Butcher Bird Hartmann what I had was chicken shit. hell, I think I never had any fans at all. Most of the attention was for Red Leader, may he rest poor man" Juan said as his voice saddened. " I'm sorry to hear that Chief" Chuck added with remorse in every word. Silence consumed the room as both boys laid silent on their couches, their eyelids getting heavier. " Hey skip, before we call it a night, can I ask one more question? See its about one of the girls earlier, the one with the brown and plushy hair? I swear I've seen her before" commented Chuck as he stared at the ceiling, the image of the girl appearing before him as his eyes stared right at hers. " do you know who I'm talking about, right Juan?" asked Chuck as he waited for a reply, only to be met with complete silence as the heater hummed." Skip?" worriedly asked Chuck as he slowly turned his head towards Juan. To his surprise he saw Juan had already fallen asleep wrapped in a bundle that seemed to appear like a cocoon while his face was sticking out likeif he was in a a sleeping bag. Chuck then saw that there was a calm expression on Juan's face, an expression he'd never seen before. A calm, peaceful feeling blanketed the room as Chuck turned his gaze back to the ceiling as a smile slowly grew on his weary face, his eyes slowly closing as darkness began to take over the world around him.

* * *

The room suddenly came back to life as Erwin's put her hand over her eyes as they re-adjusted. " Hello everyone, I'm Bruce Hutchison here live from LA International Airport as we are only a few hours away from this exciting match!" said the reporter as his hair was flying everywhere as the background zoomed by. A strange and upsetting feeling began to churn in Erwin's stomach. " In the meantime before the match gets started, we'll have a chat and get an inside look from the brave and skilled pilots from our very own USA, lets go" Erwin's eyes scanned every single inch of the screen as she gazed upon two rows of an aircraft that had a distinctive bent wing shape. " Corsairs" Erwin whispered to herself in amazement as her eyes grew wide. Her face suddenly grew tight as an expression that was a mix of disgust and intrigue suddenly appeared . 'Jeez, our pilots were right, they don't even take care of their planes!' Erwin screamed in her head as her eyes laid upon what seemed to her to be a pitiful sight. All the corsairs were so sun-bleached that the tri-tonal scheme seemed to blend with one another as layers of grime and dust covered the entirety of each plane. The filthy white undersurfaces had become a mix of cream and a rustic yellow/orange that were covered in a layer of dust and dried dirt. Almost all the engine panels, and leading edges of the wings were heavily chipped as the natural metal shined. Almost every corsair had a large stain on the side of its nose where fuel had ate away the top layer of blue paint, showing the lighter shade underneath it. Large streaks of brown/black exhaust covered the underside of the engine that starkly contrasted the 'white' paint all the while steaks of dried oil streaked down the nose like tears. Erwin gazed in horror as her eyes kept scanning at every imperfection, her mind racing as she compared the aircraft of both teams and how they contrasted each other by miles. The reporter suddenly stopped moving and climbed out of a jeep and walked up to a fairly large group of individuals who were wearing casual clothing as they stood in front of a white nosed F4U with a heavily chipped propeller. " Are they the pilots?" Erwin asked herself in amazement; " Strange, Why aren't they wearing flight suits or coveralls?" she added with curiosity as her eyes glanced at every single individual. As she kept glancing, her eyes fell upon once again to a boy she was slowly getting to know better. " So that's how you looked like, didn't change at all, except for the hair." Erwin silently said to herself as she slightly chuckled. He was wearing large, circular sunglasses that reflected everything like a mirror. Erwin began to feel her eyelids slowly get heavier and heavier as her mind started to wander and a feeling of peace starting to crawl upon her like fingers. Her narrowing vison glanced one more time at the bright computer screen; the boy suddenly looked straight at Erwin, his glasses reflecting the bright sun as they sparkled and shined brightly. Erwin's mind quickly raced as she felt his eyes shoot straight into her soul, her heart suddenly stopping as her breathe was quickly stolen. A strange feeling suddenly loomed over her as she glanced back at the young Mexican who was staring back at her with hidden eyes; " Who are you exactly.." she mumbled as all of her thoughts suddenly stopped.


	20. Chapter 20

( In all honesty I've never believed I would have made it to chapter 20. I guess I thought ill lose motivation and quit going on with this story, so all for all of you that helped me along the way with the comments and reviews, thank you very much. At least it shows me I'm not complete shit at writing stories. if you like to hear music along with the story to get some added mood, listen to Misato for the 5th paragraph and listen to rei 1 for the last two paragraphs starting at the word "MMM" if you'd like)

A slight chilly morning wind blew throughout the carrier as it continued onwards towards its destination that far beyond the horizon. A light grey, blue tinted cloudy blanket covered the morning sky as waves of orange created long streaks in the bluish haze as the sun slowly began to rise behind the wall of clouds. A feeling of peace covered the ship as people slowly began to come back from the land of dreams into reality once again; to the pleasures or troubles that awaited them. " HOW COULD YOU!?" screamed two parents as they glowered with burning eyes down at Juan who had sunken deep within his chest. " We trusted you! You promised us that you'd keep our son safe! And what do you do?! You get him killed!" they added with fury as hot tears ran down their cheeks. " I...I'm.. I'm so sorry, I mean it down to the bottom of my heart. I didn't want this happen " Juan mumbled with tears in his eyes as he kept looking down at the ground, not daring to look the mourning parents in the eyes. " LIAR!" screamed the woman in rage as tears burst out even more as she fell upon her knees wailing in agony, crying her son's name over and over; heartbreak in her tone . " Well it did you bastard, I hope your happy with yourself" angrily commented the man as he kneeled down beside his lamenting wife. Hot tears ran down Juan's cheeks as his eyes stung, his heart beginning to feel like it was going to explode with every beat; a feeling of dread, loneliness and regret consuming his entire body and mind. " I'm..im sorry" he said with a shaky tone. The man suddenly lunged forward and violently pushed Juan backwards who quickly fell against the hard concrete as a sharp pain hit his brain. " We don't want to hear your fucking apology you worthless sack of shit" yelled the man as he stood over Juan who was covered in tears and snot, his tear filled pink eyes staring straight. " We both wish that it would have been you who would be in that coffin instead of our son." said the man as he walked over and picked up his wife and slowly began to walk away. " If it was you, nobody would come and grieve since nobody loves you" said the woman as she wiped away her tears. "I'm sorry.." mumbled Juan as tears fell; " Fuck off and die!" both parents yelled in anger. " I'm sorry" mumbled Juan as he blankly stared into space as tranquility still covered the house as everyone was fast asleep. A strange, yet familiar feeling abruptly hit him as his face tightened. " I need a shower." Juan bluntly said as he slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes as they then quickly scanned the partially lit living room. At one corner of the room was a digital clock with bright red numbers that kept blinking over and over. Juan blankly stared at it as it continued blinking, his mind going empty once again as he sat in the silent room. 'I feel gross. How long has it been, three days since my last shower? Sounds about right' Juan thought to himself as he stood up and stretched and quickly slouched over and scratched his ass; ' Now where the fuck is the bathroom in this place?' he added with a slight grogginess in his voice.

* * *

" Should we wake her up?" silently asked Saemonza as she leaned over to Caesar as they both stood still, their eyes falling upon a passed out Erwin as she was sitting on the chair with her head tilted back, her mouth wide open as faint drips of saliva fell down her mouth and on her chair. Her arms and legs were outstretched in multiple directions to the point where she seemed to have melted upon the object. Caesar stood still as she quickly put her hand on her chin and thought deeply; with a smug grin she said " Nah, lets leave her there until she properly wakes up. Don't want to disturb a sleeping fox but bring me the camera however, don't want to let this opportunity go to waste. Saemonza nodded her head and began to tip-toe away as Caesar's eyes suddenly glanced at the monitor which was dark. 'What were you watching last night anyways? Another documentary?' she thought as a surge of curiosity hit her as she carefully leaned down and outstretched her hand to grab to mouse. "Maybe your maidenhood is about to end and your were looking at lewd things you perv" Caesar jokingly whispered as she grabbed the mouse and clicked it, her eyes growing huge with intrigue and shock as she gazed upon the screen as it quickly came back to life.

* * *

The sound of running water echoed throughout the room as steam blanketed the area in a hazy white cloud. Streams of water poured down Juan's blank face which was partially obscured by his long black/brown hair that hung from the sides of his head. 'Who am I really? Sounds cliché and stupid to think that, but I don't know. I'm suddenly getting an urge to finally think that.' he thought as he stood still staring blankly; his mind fading into dullness as everything around him slowly turned into a foggy illusion. " A monster, a spineless coward, scum" softly echoed the words as the constant stream of water slowly drowned them out; " Maybe your right" continued the words as they flew about. " Of course I'm right, I'm you. Since day one I've always been there, my first 'kill' and the many others that followed." Juan commented to himself as he slowly grabbed a shampoo bottle and put some in his hand and began to run through his wet, somewhat oily scalp. A dark feeling began to crawl upon Juan as he showered, his mind delving deeper into the abyss. He then closed his eyes as his mind came back into reality; " I'm an animal, I'm no better than the people who enjoy this sport, I'm a..." " Who the fuck is in the restroom!?" loudly asked a voice as he began to knock on the door. A slight frown appeared on Juan's face, trying to ignore the familiar voice as he tried to finish his thought; " I'm a.." " Come on, can you hurry up I need to take a massive dump here!" added the voice. The dark, somber feeling quickly vanished as Juan came back to the world and with a large frown stretched across his face responded " Its me, JESUS TAP DANCING CHRIST James cant I be able to self loathe myself in peace?" Silence suddenly overtook the room as the sound of running water continued in the background. " Under the circumstances I would understand, but Skip I gotta go man" replied James. With a heavy sigh Juan shook his head and said " God damn it fine, but give me like five minutes alright?". " Alright, your five minutes starts now" chuckled James as Juan began to wash himself down. " Fuck sakes this will be a tough two weeks" Juan grumbled. After a few minutes Juan turned off the water and dried himself off as James began to knock on the door again; " You done skip? I cant hold it anymore come on!" " Alright alright I'm moving, Christ sakes" Juan grumbled as he put oh his boxers and walked towards the door. With a heavy fling he ripped open the door only to be greeted by James who quickly rushed passed him and shut the door behind him. " Don't clog the toilet damn it!" loudly ordered Juan as he began to dry his hair as a stern, yet thoughtful expression suddenly appeared on his face. 'But in all seriousness, you got a problem man. I know I do, though I never really thought of it before until now. Or more like you always thought about it, but tried to suppress it evert time it came across your mind?' Juan thought to himself as his expression turned sour. " Just face your fear you fuck" Juan angrily muttered to himself as he walked passed a mirror and abruptly stopped as his eyes fell upon a reflection he was all too familiar with. " Just fight me and everything that stands for you including your guilt and then you'll know peace" said his demonic reflection as its eyes brightly glowed as a slight grin stretched across its wretched complexion. Juan glared at himself with blank eyes as a single thought shot through his head; " Do I really want to fight myself? Will I feel better if I forget and bury my past?" He whispered as he looked down at the shiny and clean wooden floor. After a few moments in silence he looked up back at the mirror only to find his regular face looking back at him, face he began to slowly despise. A feeling of anger and hatred started to boil within his soul as he kept looking at himself. His fists clenched tightly, his teeth grinding as his eyes filled with hatred; his heart began to race as everything thing around him disappeared. Time suddenly stopped as Juan quickly raised his fist behind his head and was ready to swing with all of his anger at himself that stared back at him with evil eyes. The reflection's face suddenly loosened as Juan took a deep breathe and lowered his fist and unclenched his hands casually stepping back a few inches as he then stared at his reflection. He slowly nodded his head as he walked away back into the living room as soft thumps echoed through the hallway.

* * *

" Where, where am I?" groggily mumbled Erwin as she slowly opened her eyes to the view of the ceiling of the living room which was brightly lit up. She roughly sat up on the chair as she rubbed her eyes and yawned. The world around her was silent as she slowly glanced around and saw her entire crew glaring back at her with slightly smug expressions stretched across their faces. " What?" Erwin asked with curiosity as she removed her headphones and slowly placed them on the desk. "OH nothing, we just waited fro you to wake up you perv" sarcastically said Caesar who quickly snickered. " No I wasn't" snapped Erwin; " besides why are all of you awake so early anyways?" she added with a slight snobbish tone in her groggy voice. " We didn't wake up early, _you_ woke up late." commented Saemonza. Erwin's face tightened as she quickly replied; " That's impossible, its only eight thirtyyyy..." Erwin's mouth dropped as her eyes fell upon the clock on the computer monitor. " Told you" chuckled Caesar who walked over to Erwin and handed her a glass of cold orange juice. " So how was the Yaoi?" snickered Saemonza as Erwin glared back at her with burning eyes. " I wasn't looking at lewd things last night" Erwin said with annoyance in her voice. " Oh yeah, then care to explain this?" asked Caesar as she spun Erwin around and pointed at the screen which was covered with lewd pictures of everything imaginable. Erwin's face blushed as red as a cherry as her heart raced, her eyes scanning at every single picture as her mind quickly spun. " I..I ..I didn't look at none of this, I was looking at something else". " Oh so you were looking at some more hardcore stuff then" chuckled Caesar as she playfully slapped Erwin's shoulder and added with a big grin on her face; " Nah we're just pulling your leg Erwin, I know you weren't looking at this stuff" An etched expression quickly appeared on Erwin's face as she squinted her eyes and glared at Caesar; " Its too damn early for this garbage you know" she said with distaste in her tone. " I'm sorry alright, we all thought it would be a funny prank" said Caesar as her attitude quickly changed into one of remorse. A pitying expression appeared on Erwin as she glanced at everyone that was in the room; " Well, I guess it was just a semi-harmless prank but what I'm wondering now is where did you find these obscene pictures?" Caesar smiled as she quickly replied, " Well, it was Oryou who showed us". All eyes quickly fell upon the quiet girl as she suddenly glanced back at everyone wide-eyed; " what?" she hastily asked. Silence rapidly covered the room as a strange feeling hung over everyone. "Seems like our little Oryou is on her way to become a lady, just like Erwin here whose on the path of loosing her maidenhood." snickered Saemonza. " Anyways, I saw what you were looking at last night and I must say, I'm intrigued by that game as well on why, we have been in the dark about since it seems its famous globally. " commented Caesar with a stern tone as she scratched her chin. Erwin kept looking at her friend as she continued; " Along with that, the vid you were looking at, or more like the profile of the pilot, looks like the guy from last night" " That's cause he is" replied Erwin as she slowly stood up and stretched. " Well then Saemonza, looks like you were right about Erwin. She's trading in history for boys by the looks of it." chuckled Caesar with an extremely smug grin etched on her face as she went to the kitchen and poured a glass of orange juice; " Its not what it looks like" said Erwin with slight distaste and embarrassment in her voice. " Of course it is" interrupted Caesar as she carefully handed the cold glass towards Erwin who looked back at her with a confused gaze. Everyone glanced at Caesar as they waited for her to continue. " Its a good things its Sunday" she suddenly said as she looked at everyone with a grin; " cause we are going to do a lot of studying over our 'guests' and the game they patriciate in".

* * *

Noises began to echo throughout the house as scuffing of feet on floors quickly destroyed the peaceful environment that existed only minutes before. " Man I feel a lot better now!" exclaimed James as he walked out of the bathroom. " Shut the Fuck Up James, nobody gives a shit about you taking a shit!" yelled Brock as his voice echoed throughout the house. " I know your mom does" quickly shot back James; " Christ almighty James its too fucking early for this shit, can ya'll keep it down? I don't want to be kicked out of this house this fucking early; maybe in about an hour or two ill be ok." exclaimed Joe. " Maybe damorrow" added James with a laugh; " I'm going to beat your ass James" added Brock as the whole house began to slowly go into an uproar. " Jesus Christ, we are going to get evicted by the neighbors" mumbled Juan as he finished with putting on a fresh pair of clothes as the yelling continued. He looked down beside the couch and noticed his shoes were missing; 'odd, I swear I left them there last night' he thought as a perplexed expression abruptly appeared on his face. " GOD DAMN JAMES, IT SMELLS LIKE SOMEONE FUCKING DIED IN HERE!" suddenly boomed Brock. Juan slowly stood up and walked over to the kitchen and glanced at the refrigerator; ' wonder what they got in...' " what did you expect? The perfume department like in the flying Dutchman? asked James. "I'd rather be nose raped by chemicals than the unholy smells that come from you" yelled Brock. " Alright, that's it, which one of you want's their ass kicked?" quickly interrupted Tony as his voice echoed though the house. " Bet" snickered James; " ill probably kill you with these massive _guns_ I'm packing" he added as he flexed his arms. " Oh my lord, fuck it we will all kick your ass" added Brock. " come on guys, even you Doc. Bring your bible too so you can beat the demon out of James" suddenly yelled Erik; "You in skip? he added as his voice echoed throughout the halls " Where are ya skip? We need you up here. Looks like a brawl is about to go down" yelled Rick. Juan sat by himself at the kitchen table with a displeased look on his face as he held a white mug full of juice in front of him in a rather famous posture from another troubled kid as he blankly stared straight forward.

* * *

"Momo, you're up early" cheerfully commented the student council president as she walked into her office and saw Momo-chan, back turned towards her with her hands crossed. " I didn't sleep" slowly grumbled Momo as she reached for a canned coffee that was on the windowsill and chugged half of the beverage. Anzu walked towards her desk and pulled out a bag of sweet potato chips and popped open the bag; " What were you doing then?" she asked. " Eh, I was with the automotive club all night as they fixed up the knocked out tanks from yesterday's mock match" commented Momo as she took another sip, her eyes still staring straight ahead as if she was trying to see the horizon. " You really do care for this school" jokingly commented Anzu as she jumped back first onto the sofa and kicked her legs up. " Of course I do, sounds like your mocking me for not having anything else going for me" hastily replied Momo with faint traces of annoyance in every word. " Well, what's going to happen then once we go on to university? Remember that we graduate very soon" suddenly said Anzu as she ate another chip. Momo's face suddenly went blank as her eyes widened as she slowly turned around and glanced at Anzu. " You're right Prez. To be honest, I never really thought about that since I don't really have time to" replied Momo as she looked down on the carpet covered floor with disbelief etched on her face. " We are going have to find suitable replacements" added Anzu as she stared at the ceiling. A heavy feeling suddenly fell upon Momo's shoulders that she nearly fell down; " replacements? I don't have a single candidate in mind, yet alone three!" she immediately exclaimed with desperation, her heart beginning to race as her mind flooded with all the memories of the school and the trouble and suffering she went through just to keep it open. " Don't worry Momo, we'll do it the way we were chosen, through natural selection" said Anzu with a carefree attitude. " natural selection? Why are you calling it that, sounds morbid. Why cant we just say what it normally is?" " cause its boring and besides, it is 'Natural selection' after all Momo, see which group of the girls will come out on top and replace us" added Anzu with a smug grin. Faint rays of semi-bright sunlight danced across the partially lit room as both girls glanced at each other with their minds deep in thought. "Mmmm, I was also thinking about something else before you dropped that displeasing news Prez" suddenly said Momo as Anzu's curious eyes glanced at her; " Our guests that we have, I feel that we should get rid of them" said Momo as she slowly stood up and adjusted her monocle as it brightly gleamed. " I don't see a problem with them, personally I see them as a benefit to our girls" replied Anzu as she quickly sat up and leaned into the couch. " See that's it" interrupted Momo as she sat behind the large wooden desk that was in front of the large glass windows that had a perfect view of the sea that stretched out past the horizon. " I have a feeling that if word gets out about our girls having male guests, our Sensha-Do team is finished and along with that this school." she said as her face was partially obscured with the shadows of the clouds that were behind her. " How come?" asked the student council president with curiosity and intrigue in her tone. " I wouldn't be complaining if we weren't famous, but since our victory against Kuromorimine our girls have become more and more popular with fans to the point where I believe that if they find out they have male guests, rumors will start about relationships and scandals and the fan base will turn against us." " So let them, they're just shut ins and people who spend all their time behind computer screens , what power do they have?" snapped Anzu; " I wish it was so, but fans are the ones with power here, not us. I've seen many times before where voice actresses and singers have received hate mail and even death threats when fans find about relationships and such. Most lose their careers cause of these people and I don't want this school and the girls to go down like that cause of ten boys who got lost" harshly said Momo as she slammed her hand against the desk. " But that's only in anime and pop stars.." said Anzu; " Its not just that!" hastily interrupted Momo. " Our girls are also on that list now, all famous tankery girls are. Bound to multitudes of fans that only care about themselves"

A dark feeling suddenly blanketed the large room as silence took over both girls as Momo's worries started to dig into the student council president's mind. " So what do we do with them? We cant just throw them off the ship; plus we will be docking in two weeks and they can get off and just like that everything will be normal" she commented as she looked up towards Momo whose elbows where on the shiny desk, her hands crossed within each other in front of her mouth in a famous pose as her monocle gleamed and shined brightly. " The bet we made with Saunders about our upcoming match, that might be our only ticket to get rid of those boys." she said with a stern demeanor. " Right, the one that's two days away" added Anzu; " Not two days, tomorrow" hastily interrupted Momo as she remained in her posture. I didn't clarify yesterday, by three days I also meant yesterday was included too." A serious look quickly replaced the carefree face that the president had as she looked down and thought; " Well, looks like we will have to have a meeting then with the girls to tell them the news. Along with that how are all the tanks?" she asked. " all of them are ready, like I mentioned I was with the Automotive club all night. They started since seven yesterday evening and they finished with all repairs by four this morning." said Momo. " Without those girls our Sensha-do team would have been a palpable joke." she added with a slight chuckle; " but back to the topic about the boys". Anzu sat back into the couch and scratched her chin as she thought deeply. "The bet was whoever won will keep the boys for the holidays right?" " Exactly, and that right there proves my worries" said Momo; " They weren't even here for a day and Saunders immediately caught wind. If they did, I can imagine all of our 'fans' have too Prez." " So what your saying is that there's only one option for us then from getting fire from the fans?" asked Anzu as she glanced back at the stern black haired girl whose demeanor drastically changed. " As much as I hate it, we are backs against the wall and I see no other option. Lets not say anything about this to Yuzu and the rest of the girls." " And if it backfires?" quickly asked the president; " the lets just hope for the best and pray that this school doesn't go down." Momo said with nervousness in her voice.


	21. Chapter 21

( Sorry for the very long wait, just things came up and I hit a writers block once again so if the story seems half assed, I couldn't think of much. On another hand, I had an idea for another story that will involve Yukari and the boys, thing is it will take a few months after the one I'm currently writing and I'm thinking of starting it immediately since I have some fresh ideas; so I don't know how you all would feel about that.)

" So this is where I left off, I think before I passed out" suddenly commented Erwin as she paused the video as she leaned back onto the foot of the couch as Caesar looked at her along with the rest of the girls with expressions that were a mix of surprise and intrigue. " So..so this is the game our guests participate in then?" slowly asked Saemonza as she casually turned her head back towards the large screen television that was hooked up to the computer. Erwin nodded her head with an etched expression; " By the looks of it". " They all seem to all have weary expressions, like their faces show that they are both tired mentally and physically" interrupted Caesar with words that were ridden with slight sorrow and empathy. " That one kid, the freshman from, uh, Kobe Central right? The one who mentioned he had a crush on a Chi Ha tan girl?" quickly asked Caesar as she reached for a bright white mug with a dazzling yellow Fasces stamped on one of its sides and Latin written on the other. " yeah what about it?" hastily replied Erwin as she quickly sat back up and placed her arms on the Kotatsu that was covered with snacks and drinks. A wave of strange silence abruptly covered the room as everybody looked at each other with blank expressions as their minds brought up the image of the young and cheerful pilot. " I wonder who she is" softly said Oryou; " maybe its that one girl with the very large glasses, you know the one who commands the Ha-Go" hastily added Saemonza as everybody nodded in unison. " It would most likely be the case" said Caesar with a semi-confident tone; " Erwin , what day was this aired?" she added as she glanced back at the blonde haired girl. Erwin minimized the video and checked the date that was beside the school names that were involved. " It was filmed at the very beginning of this year, February to be exact" she said as she glanced back at everyone around her with a thoughtful gaze, only to be met back with the same face. Caesar coughed as she mustered a smile and said with an amused tone," Uh, those fighters our teams had were beautiful, to the point where I nearly cried over the sheer awesomeness and respect they emitted". Everyone suddenly nodded in agreement as they tried to forget about the romantic relationship they just thought about. " And their uniforms were as sharp and clean like Kuromorimine's" said Oryou with disbelief, " I wonder how the Americans will look?" she added with curiosity as Erwin moved the cursor over the play button; " That being mentioned, I must warn you all now, there will be a stark contrast between these two teams, like its very noticeable how mismatched the American teams are to the point Saunders would be more American than them" commented Erwin with a stern tone in her voice. " How noticeable?' abruptly asked Caesar as she looked at her friend; " painfully" replied Erwin as she clicked the button and video continued.

" So how are all of you feeling?" suddenly loudly asked the reporter as he stretched out his hand that carried a shiny black cordless microphone to the Mexican who was wearing bright, circular mirrors for sunglasses. He wore sun-bleached blue jeans seemed to blend together as his worn black sneakers were sun-burnt to a brownish/black hue. His unbuttoned tan flannel shirt slightly flowed underneath a worn, bright yellow Mae vest that was surrounded by bright white parachute harnesses that seemed to wrap all over the young boy's body. Music echoed in the background as everyone around the boy were chatting away, their attention quickly shifting away from the camera crew. A soft cocky grin suddenly appeared under the boy's wispy black moustache as he suddenly spoke with a taunting tone; "Take a look around you, cant ya see how we are all feeling". " Come again sir?" quickly replied the reporter as he glanced back at the camera for a second as he tried to put up a fake and innocent smile." I said look at us, you can see clearly how we are feeling about this match, you blind?" replied the boy. The reporter stood silent as an expression of anger was slowly staring to appear on his face as a tense feeling began to hang over the pair. " I'm just messin' around with ya', damn you don't have to be so cynical!" abruptly chuckled the boy as he quickly followed; " We are all feeling confident about the match". Silence quickly overcame the reporter as he stood still, his eyes nervously darting between the camera and the boy that was in front of him as he wore a cocky grin. " Well, I wouldn't expect much else coming out of the mouth of three time ace Juan Rodriguez now" said the reporter with an annoyed tone and displeased look on his face. Erwin and the rest of the girls all stared wide eyed at the bright television as it echoed throughout the quiet house. " jeez, that's the boy who's here on the ship with us?" snapped Saemonza as she grabbed her mug and took a heavy swig; " yeah" Erwin mumbled, her eyes not leaving the screen as Saemonza squinted with eyes of intrigue at Erwin. His mismatched attire, along with the others that were with him starkly contrasted the clean, straight uniforms that their Japanese opponents were wearing caught the attention of every single girl who were sitting around the Kotastu. " You weren't lying Erwin, they really are mismatched; for goodness sakes some are wearing basketball shorts and tee shirts. I only see a few here wearing flight suits. but its... its.." mumbled Caesar as she felt like she was going to loose her mind looking over the American's choice of attire. With a slow, deep breath Oryou slowly said " Appearance always matches with personality, that being said however, seems like it doesn't apply in this scenario". Everyone casually turned towards Oryou as she slowly grabbed her cup filled to the brim with tea and took a gentle sip. " You cant be serious Oryou? I mean look at them, look at their planes, they all look like.. like fools and rejects who think they can fly" quickly retorted Saemonza as she slapped her hand on her knee. " wait, didn't the first pilot say something about them? The leading ace of Japan right?" suddenly interrupted Caesar; " yeah he was 'apparently', and he said they are very, very good" hastily commented Erwin as she closed her eyes and crossed her arms. With a smug grin she added with a blunt tone " they seem to have a mix of characteristics of both the Legendary Flying Tigers and Black sheep squadrons" Silence blanketed the room as everyone hung their heads and nodded in agreement. " Seems like you know a lot about them already, tell me do you know what's his type of girl too?" promptly asked Caesar as she slowly turned her head towards her friend who nearly choked on her drink. With a heavy and loud cough Erwin regained her posture as she hit her chest; " Its not like that at all Caesar, I wonder where you get your devilish ideas from."

* * *

Thin rays of bright sunlight peeked through little cracks in the cloudy sky as everyone on the ship began the new day with energy and vigor. " What time is it?" quickly asked Brock as he came down stairs wearing only his shirt, socks and boxers; his hands buried within his eyes . " Time for you to wake the fuck up and stop looking like a waste of human life" laughed Erik. " I'm already a waste of human life" grumbled Brock with sleepiness in every word; " Maybe I should just shoot myself right here so I can finally fucking get some rest" he added. A smile swiftly appeared across Erik's face as he continued trying to hide his laughter, " Ah, good ol' Brock giving us some great advice on how to handle the most difficult aspects of life". Brock quickly grinned wide as he said with a cheerful tone and demeanor " Of course, its great fucking advice." The house came to life as all the boys were walking around trying to get acquainted to their new home, much to the growing dismay of their new and confused neighbors. An elderly lady cautiously stood outside her back porch as she slowly began watering her plants, her shiny eyes glancing at the house next to her where all the noises and yelling were coming from. Suddenly, a voice shouted from within the house;" WHY DOES IT SMELL LIKE SOMEONE FUCKING DIED UP HERE?!" The old lady jumped with fear as she quickly turned her full attention towards the house next door. ' When did I get new neighbors? Foreign ones at that?' she angrily thought as she stood silently still and listened. " I DONT KNOW, MAYBE IT COULD BE JAMES SINCE HE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE A GREAT FUCKING IDEA TO WAKE US UP BY TELLING US HE TOOK A MASSIVE SHIT!" suddenly yelled another voice. " Oh no" suddenly mumbled the old lady as she slowly turned around and began to walk inside her home. " I have American cowboys for neighbors now." she added with a blunt and slightly annoyed tone in her voice as her etched face showed her true feelings. " I'm going to say something about this to the one in charge, this is unacceptable.

* * *

" Alright, so are we ready to continue or are all of you going to chastise me even more?" asked Erwin as she looked at the rest of her team members who looked back at her with vacant expressions. With a pleading look on her face, Erwin said " Alright then, lets get back to watching this since Im...". Suddenly there was a loud knock on the door that interrupted Erwin as all of the girls quickly turned their eyes towards where the noise was coming from. " Who would come to our house this early?" suddenly asked Erwin with confusion. " Its almost 11" commented Caesar. " Eh, I don't want to open the door" said Saemonza as she leaned back and yawned; "Neither do I" quickly added Caesar as she too leaned back and put her arms behind her head. Erwin looked at the pair with disappointed eyes which then causally looked over at Oryou. With a soft voice Oryou said " I don't want to open the door, I'm too comfy here." The knocks continued as all of the girls remained seated, their eyes darting between each other seeing who would answer to the higher call. " Alright, I got an idea, lets play rock paper scissors. the loser will open the door" quickly announced Caesar as she stood up with her finger pointed towards the heavens. Everyone nodded in unison as they all quickly stuck out one arm and hovered them over the center of the Kotatsu. " Alright, on three" said Erwin with a determined looked etched on her face. Time seemed to stop as all of the girls stared at each other with eyes of murderers. With a deep breath Erwin started the countdown;" One...two..." Everyone shook their fists to the rhythm of the numbers, their hearts racing as they waited for the last number to be called out. The number that will decide what seemed to them the fate of the world; " Three.." Like lighting they all made their dangerous choices, their eyes swiftly looking at each other's hands, hoping that the hand they chose would lead them to victory. Erwin's eyes widened with horror, her mouth wide open with disbelief as she gazed upon the middle, all of her remaining hope completely shattered. " H..ho...how?!" she yelled in utter shock as she raised her hand which was completely stretched out to her face. She then looked back at all of her friends who were smiling wide with their eyes closed as they put up their fingers which were in the shapes of V's. Erwin grumbled as she slowly stood up, mumbling with every step she took until he finally reached the door. With a click she slowly opened only to be greeted by Yukari's innocent smile. " Yukari, what are doing here today?" casually asked Erwin as she glanced at Yukari who appeared to be a mess with her fluffy hair seeming to have a life of its own. Her eyes had slight bags under them as her demeanor seemed to be more energetic than usual. She then noticed that she was carrying a small sized canvas bag by her side which had some papers sticking out . " Oh, its about our guests from last night, I went home last night and did some 'research' about them and the sport they participate in" swiftly said Yukari as she then reached for her bag and began ruffle between the papers. " Uh, how much sleep did you get last night?" curiously asked Erwin as she stood at the doorway, examining the puffy haired girl that seemed to be in her own world. " Oh, I didn't sleep at all, I barely finished with my research just a while ago and decided to come here since you seemed as curious about our guests like me". replied Yukari as she abruptly smiled and pulled out two sheets of paper with a bunch of small photos and paragraphs. Erwin glanced at the papers and with a curious tone in her voice asked " What's that?". Yukari rapidly looked at Erwin with a blank expression on her face; " These are profiles of all the boys we saw last night, or most of them anyways. Some might be incorrect since I couldn't see them well, but I know you have more experience with them". Erwin reached out her hand towards Yukari as she slowly handed Erwin the two documents. " Did you hear that girls, Erwin has some 'experience' with the boys. Maybe you should teach Saori a thing or two haha" suddenly yelled Caesar with a joyous tone as Erwin's face abruptly turned as red as a cherry as she swiftly turned back and saw the top of Caesar's head popping around the corner. Yukari started laughing as Erwin slowly turned back towards her, her face ridden with embarrassment as she softly shook her hands. " That's pretty funny, but you know I didn't mean it like that Erwin." commented Yukari as she wiped a tear from her eye. a smile slowly stretched across Erwin face as she looked down at the documents; "Of course you didn't, but my FRIENDS seemed to have their minds stuck in someplace that doesn't involve history!" she suddenly yelled, looking back at the hallway as snickering began to come from the living room. With a heavy sigh Erwin turned back towards Yukari; " Want to come in for a bit then?" Yukari grinned as she nodded her head; " Yeah, we've got a lot to talk about, you wouldn't believe all the things I found."

" In all honesty I did some research myself last night too" added Erwin as she closed the door behind Yukari. Yukari quickly removed her sneakers and placed them against the wall. " How much did you find?" she asked as she stood up and looked back at Erwin who was glancing over the papers. Erwin's eyebrows rose an inch as her eyes scanned over the photos and paragraphs. Suddenly, her eyes stopped on a photo which looked more like a mugshot of the boy she started to grow familiar with. Yukari looked at Erwin with eyes full of intrigue; " Is it them?" she softly asked. Erwin kept staring at the photo as her eyes then shifted towards the paragraphs that were beside and below the photo. Much to her surprise and relief all of the words were in kanji like on the website. " So far, its them" mumbled Erwin as she glanced over the rest of the photos as she began to dig into her memories of the first night which still burned in her mind. " So what are you guys doing?" asked Yukari as she and Erwin began to walk towards the living room. " Juts looking at some videos of the club those boys are in" commented Erwin, her face still buried in the papers she tightly held in her hands. " she's lying, she's looking at the videos of her lover" joked Caesar. Erwin's eyes suddenly shot at Caesar in annoyance. Caesar's face quickly changed as she apologized; " I'm sorry Erwin, I didn't mean to take it too far." May I have something to drink?" asked Yukari to the girls who nodded their heads and offered her a cup of tea. " Thank you" she said as she sat down on the couch, her attention suddenly shifting towards the TV; " what are you guys watching?" Erwin slowly sat down back in her original position, carefully laying the two documents on the Kotatsu. " Its about one of the boys, the leader I presume. Your remember? the one wearing the officer's crush cap?" she commented at Yukari as she casually nodded. "Well what I found curious how did a fighter pilot, a good one at that considering his kill count, end up being a captain of a B-17" bluntly added Erwin as she crossed her arms and thought deeply. The deathly silence abruptly blanketed the room as everyone's minds went into a frenzy. " Wait, wait a minute!" interrupted Saemonza; " why are we doing this?" Why are we only thinking about why a random guy became a bomber pilot? it seems pretty useless if we actually continue on. I'm beginning to believe Caesar's jokes that you ARE falling for him." Everybody then turned their heads at Erwin who still had her arms crossed, her eyes closed as she thought. " Maybe because for one, that guy is on our ship. What if he was a murderer or a delinquent? I'm sure I would want to know a bit more about a stranger if I was living next door to him". Erwin said in a serious tone as she quickly opened her eyes and looked at every single person that was around her. Saemonza's face tightened as she continued;" A delinquent?; Are you serious Erwin? He's our age, I doubt he would do anything that would land him in jail. They are just a bunch of boys, what trouble would they cause" A nervous expression quickly appeared on Erwin's face as she was about to open her mouth when Yukari interrupted; " See the thing is, they are delinquents, some of them anyways" A horrified expression swiftly appeared on Saemonza's face as she slightly jumped in horror, " You..you can't be serious?" Yukari and Erwin both nodded in unison as a tense feeling hung over everyone's shoulders. With a haunted gaze upon her face Yukari spoke; " I looked into the club's page last night and found out almost all of their members, the Public school members especially are juvenile delinquents." Silence consumed everyone as they let Yukari's words sink into their souls. " So that means.." asked Caesar with nervousness in every word. " yeah" silently replied Yukari. " That being said however, these guys have become as famous aces and are as popular as pop stars" added Erwin as she reached for a sweet that was in the middle of the kotatsu. " So maybe they aren't that bad if popularity have gotten to their heads" she added as she took a bite. Everyone looked down as they thought, their hearts pounding with fear and uneasiness. " Wait a minute Yukari, did you say public school members?" asked Caesar. Yukari nodded as she replied, " yeah, schools that are on land" A wave of surprise and intrigue swiftly shot through every single girl as they all suddenly stood up and stared at Yukari wide eyed. " I didn't believe it myself, I still kinda don't" she added as she put her hand under her chin and thought. " Schools on land? I never imagined such a thing still existed nowadays" said Caesar with disbelief. With a smug grin, Erwin looked at the rest of the girls and with a cocky tone in her voice announced " looks like we will be asking our guests a lot more questions than originally thought."


	22. Chapter 22

" Im so sorry I'm taking too long with my chapters. To all of you giving me tips and ideas in the reviews on how to make my story easier to read, thank you very much for giving me tips on how to make my story better and I try to incorporate them, but sometimes I get so wrapped up in my writing that I just forget and let the words flow, so I'm sorry on that topic)

" Hey Juan, you hoggin' the spotlight?!" suddenly asked a small girl with bright blue hair that flowed like water as she came out behind Juan and slapped his back. She quickly smiled innocently at the camera and put up her left hand in a peace gesture as the reporter abruptly said " Ah yes, how can we forget the beautiful and charming Ms. Walker. One of Arcadia High's talented aces and occasional wingman to Flamethrower Juan ". " Fwamethwower Juan?" curiously asked Saemonza as she slowly turned towards Erwin who looked back at her with the same confused gaze; " What an odd, and yet macabre nickname for that boy" she added as her eyes went back to the screen. Juan slightly grinned as he said " Well, she isn't always my wingman like you said, but she's a damn good pilot to have by your side." The camera slowly zoomed in on the short girl who was wearing jeans shorts with a long sleeved flannel tied around her waist and a bright white tee-shirt underneath an eye grabbing yellow Mae vest with small writing and doodles drawn over the middle patch. "Yeah, a damn good one who lets you walk away with all the kills" she joyously snapped back as she softly punched Juan in the arm. The reporter cautiously looked back at the camera and gave a fake smile as asked another question. " Well it seems that you two seem pretty confident in the upcoming match" Juan and the girl causally looked at him. " Well of course we are!" said Juan with a confident tone in his voice. " Do you guys underestimate your opponents?" added the reporter as he leaned in the microphone towards the girl who glanced at it. With a strong tone in her voice she answered; " No, we don't think that at all, none of us do. We tangled with these boys a lot before. They are some great pilots that deserve respect. That being said however, there's a mentality we all must have before we go up. You gotta be confident that you're gonna win, but not so confident that you end up being killed. If you take off doubting your abilities, you're already good as dead, isn't that true guys!?" she abruptly yelled as everyone around the small group turned around and cheered. With a cocky grin Juan quickly added with a voice full of bravado" We'll kick their asses boys!" as the cheering continued. The reporter causally adjusted his tie and glanced at the camera as he spoke again with a slight weariness in his voice, as if he was ready to go back to the station; " Most of our viewers out there are excited to be seeing us interviewing both members of the iconic 'Gruesome Twosome of Arcadia', tell me who came up with that nickname for you two?" Both Juan and the girl remained silent as they quickly looked at the camera at the same time as their minds went blank.' Well, 'iconic' seems a little too much man" said Juan as he scratched the back of his head and looked down at the ground. " Iconic, more like a duo of SPERM WHAALES" quickly snickered a tall boy with long and soft brown hair that partially covered his eyes. The girl quickly turned around and snapped back at the boy; " Eli what the hell are you saying!? You know damn well we got that nickname because we're better than you and Noe!" All of a sudden an argument started as both parties launch heated and joyous insults at each other. Erwin and the others stared wide eyed at the TV and tried to comprehend what was unfolding in front of their eyes. " Well then Erwin, seems like a girl already took 'your' man before you even met him" joked Caesar as she glanced at Erwin who had a disdained look upon her face. Erwin suddenly coughed as everyone quickly shifted their glances towards her as she slowly said with curiosity; " Jokes aside, I'm curious why there is a girl there. Not going against her or anything, but when I read over the guidelines last night I saw a portion that mentioned only boys between Sophomore through Senior years are allowed to join". Everyone looked at Erwin with blank expressions etched on their faces as they all softly asked " Sophomore? Senior?" Yukari quickly nodded her head as she abruptly interrupted with excitement in her voice; " Yeah, over there their year system is named differently than ours but its basically students who are second years and third years, along with an extra year that our schools don't have." " interesting" everybody said as they glanced back at the screen as a bright white numbers that showed 1:00:00 suddenly appeared in the bottom right corner. With a flash they started to count down as the seconds whizzed by. With a curious look quickly growing across her face, Erwin quickly turned her attention towards Yukari; " So did you read over the same guidelines as I did?". Yukari nodded and grinned as she replied "yeah, I read over the guidelines. I did see the part of boys only, however there was a catch. No girls can join the bomber groups of the club, however they can join the fighter groups, if their school operates them. That being said however, those girls are always juvenile delinquents and the number of girls being in the club is barely reaches two percent ." Everyone looked at Yukari as she pulled out two sheets of paper with numbers and statistics all over them. " Well I wouldn't blame them, who wants to end up dead" commented Saemonza as she reached over for the sheets and glanced at them. everyone started talking between themselves as Erwin glanced over at Yukari and said " So how much did you research about this game Guderian?" Yukari quickly looked back at Erwin with eyes that were as wide as plates and with an eager grin replied ; "Enough that it made me more interested than Senshado for a bit"

* * *

" Well lets see how many missed calls and texts I've gotten since my 'death' two days ago" Juan muttered to himself as he walked towards his phone that was connected to a plugin on the wall. With a soft thud he threw himself against the wall and slid down. With a click he turned on his phone only to be greeted by a list of never-ending notifications of missed calls all coming from the same two numbers. Juan gently smiled as his heart slowly began to beat faster; " its nice to know Mom and dad still worry about me. I got to call them back and let them know I'm still not dead. I know they must feeling horrible thinking that they've lost me, but I'm sure they'll be very fucking happy hearing my voice again. Hmm, seems like I've also gotten a lot of calls and texts from...interesting, I wouldn't have expected her to be that worried about me " Juan said as he looked up to the wall. Juan's soft smile slowly disappeared as his mind began to think back at all the B-17's he'd seen go down tumbling towards earth, the whine of the engines began to grow stronger as the memories became more vivid. His face went blank as he sat still with his phone in his hand, his eyes staring at nothing as radio chatter began to get louder as a feeling of despair abruptly began to blanket over him. A chilling cold feeling quickly hit him as his skin got goosebumps. " Bandit coming in at 6 o clock! Watch it we got another prick coming in at 11!" Sounds of machine guns and fighters zooming by enveloped Juan as he slowly turned his head and saw a sky full of bombers and bright white lines going in every direction. Suddenly everything became quiet as an image of a black b-17 slowly beginning to tumble out of formation got his full attention. The bomber suddenly went into a flat spin as it disappeared from sight as the radio chatter suddenly changed ;" Juan, are you there Juan? Come in skip, can you read me? Skip? Juan?!" yelled the voices in unison. Juan quickly shook his head and glanced up towards the sound of the voice only to be met by Joe who was looking down at him with a face of empathy. " You good Juan? You seemed a bit lost there?" asked Joe with curiosity. Juan casually waved his hand in the air as he shook his head " its nothing, just was thinking 'bout something" Joe's face tightened as stood over Juan and looked down upon him; " Don't beat yourself up man". Juan slowly looked at Joe with eyes full of remorse and with a tone that was as empty as the deepest depths of his soul he said" I don't know man, its not 'that' what's bothering me, its just"; he paused as his eyes seemed to stare right through Joe, as if he was looking straight at the sky that was beyond the roof, the sky that was the killing fields he knew too well. " Just memories Joe, the thoughts that just don't want to go away man." Joe looked down at the floor and scratched the back of his head; " yeah, I know what you mean Juan, I see them a lot too". With a low voice, Juan slowly said as he looked down towards his phone that was still In his hand; " I don't know anymore man, I feel that I cant do this shit anymore you know?" Joe kept looking at Juan as his mind went back to all the games they've been though. After a few moments, Joe grit his teeth as he slowly said with a sad tone in his voice " I know what you mean Skip, sometimes I feel that I cant go on either. In all honesty Friday's game made me realize for the first time that the probably of me dying actually exists." " Mmm" Juan mumbled as he kept staring blankly. " I always thought it was the other fuckers who were going to get it, not me, not us. We're invincible" nervously chuckled Joe as he wiped his eyes with his rough and cut up fingers. " Invincible" muttered Juan as his mind went back to the deaths a few months earlier that still hung over his shoulders. " Hopefully these two weeks will give us a well needed RnR Juan" suddenly said Joe as Juan looked up towards his co-pilot with an etched expression on his face. Suddenly the doorbell rang as it echoed throughout the house, immediately catching everyone's attention as they all looked towards the door and saw black figures through the glass window. " Who the fuck can that be?" suddenly asked Joe as he turned towards the door. Juan casually stood up and walked behind his co-pilot and glanced at the door. " maybe its the girls guys, Maybe they want us to take their maidenhoods haha!" laughed Thomas as he hobbled out of a room as everyone started to gather in the hallway that lead to the entrance. " As if man, if they really did show they'll be going after me anyways " smirked Erik; "And why is that then?" retorted Brock. With a sinister, yet cocky grin quickly stretching across his face Erik rapidly replied " Cause I know how to please a girl, plus I don't look too bad if I say so myself" " Erik, you look like a god damn fox with a shitty sense of humor" chuckled Rick as he slapped Erik on the shoulder. " here, let skip and Joe walk through to the door" announced Doc loudly as the group separated. Silence consumed everyone as they all turned their heads and gazed upon Joe and Juan as they walked towards the door, their gazes fixed with a stern expression as they boldly walked by. The bell rang again and Juan grabbed the door and swung it open.

" Ah Mister Juan, its nice to see you and all of your krew; how are you enjoying your home?" asked Mr. Yamada with a slight accent as he glanced around the doorway. Juan stared wide eyed at the man who he met only yesterday. Mr. Yamada's eyes quickly fell upon the multiple pairs of shoes that were lined up against the wall. A smile quickly grew across the man's face as he said with a joyous tone in every word; " I'm glad to see you and your crew are well inversed in our culture, im trury impressed." Juan's face went blank as he quickly looked down beside him and saw his shoes neatly placed against the wall. 'So that's where they all went' Juan immediately thought as he quickly looked back at the man and gave a fake smile as he said " Uh, yeah yeah; so what brings you over to, uh, 'our' house sir?" The man replied with a calm demeanor as he adjusted his glasses" I came here to ret you kno that you and your krew vill habe to wash the school's tank today, ash part of our agreement" Juan's face slightly tightened as he replied with a confused tone " Today? How come? I was hoping to have the day to ourselves so we can get acquainted with this carrier properly" The man immediately put up his hand and abruptly continued. " You and your krew will be able to later on, but you and the rest must go to the school and wash the tanks of the tankery club. Mumbling quickly started between the boys as Juan scratched his head and looked down at the ground. 'Fuck, I really don't want to do this shit now, but a deal was a deal, fuck me' Juan thought as he slowly looked up towards Mr. Yamada and after a few seconds of silence said " Alright, we'll clean up those tanks sir, but how will we get there? asked Juan. "We vill lead you there so you'll have to follow us or you will get losht." " Follow you there? We don't have a ride unless you can take us there" he added with slight disdain. The man quickly smiled as he stepped aside and pointed towards the street as Juan's eyes followed his hand and saw a worn and beat up light grey Willy's jeep that was surrounded by a few police officers. " this will be your vechile from here on out. We got it a while bak, but its been in shtorage shince we didn't have much ushe for it. Sho I had the Automotive club restore it for you and your krew so you can drive around freely. That being shaid, I'm afraid you will not be able to fit all of you all sho I brought a truck in case" commented the man as he turned his gaze back upon Juan. He scratched the back of his head; " Well don't worry Sir, we know how to make a jeep be able to fit all ten of us, little seating arraignment we learned". The man nodded in agreement as Juan and the rest alternated their eyes between the man and the jeep. All of a sudden Juan felt a slight surge of pain as he quickly turned and saw Rick punched him in his side. Juan's eyes began to burn with agitation as Rick motioned for Juan to bow. Juan stared at Rick blankly for a few seconds until his mind suddenly brought all the piece together. " Shit" Juan mumbled in shock as he quickly clicked his heels and bowed with a calm and collective demeaner and spoke with calm words " Thank you very much". Mr. Yamada slowly bowed as well. Juan stared wide eyed at the ground as he waited for the man to rise first. Seconds slowly went by as Juan's mind began to shake. After what seemed like a minute the man began to rise. Juan quickly stood straight and gave out his hand at the mam as he looked at it. With a slight grin he grabbed it and gave a firm shake. " Mr. Yamada, ho..how.. how can we ever repay you? I mean you took us in, gave us a roof over our heads, a form of transportation, basically all we need to have a comfy stay" said Juan in disbelief a he glanced at the house and the jeep. The man remained silent as the barking from dogs filled the late morning. He slowly adjusted his glasses and with a rough, yet caring emphasis causally said "live life" Juan nodded as the man bowed again and turned around and walked towards the street. " What was that about Skip?" asked Joe curiously as he kept staring at the man as he continued walking away. Juan remained silent as a slight grin appeared on his face, which suddenly disappeared as he looked down at the ground, a single thought coming into his mind. " You alright? I know that jeep looks rough but that shouldn't be able to startle ya?" followed Joe as he glanced at Juan who remained silent with an etched expression on his face. After a few moments of silence,Juan suddenly blinked as he turned towards Joe and answered with a blunt tone " Oh, I'm fine, I'm fine, don't worry about it; just a few bad thoughts that's all". " Bout' the jeep?" cautiously asked Joe as his face tightened with suspicion. Juan suddenly coughed and cleared his throat as he announced with a loud and brash tone " Well guys, you remembered what I said about cleaning tanks, we got to do that today so let get dressed and get the fuck over there." " What about the stuff we left behind in Speedy last night Chief" quickly asked Doc as everybody turned towards Juan. " Shit that's right" he commented as he scratched his head and glanced back at the street that was filled with guards and a few vehicles. " Well fuck, mmm let me think. mmm, you all get dressed while I think of what to say then aight?" commented Juan as everybody turned around and went in every direction of the house. " Oh yeah Rick, I want to talk to you a second" Juan loudly announced as the house began to get loud with grumbling and small talk coming from every room. Erik smiled as Rick turned around with shock; " You done fucked up now son!" gleefully laughed Erik as he smacked Rick's shoulder with a thud. " Don't worry Rick, he ain't gonna chew ya out" said Joe as he leaned close to Juan and asked under his breath " Right ?" Juan gently nodded as he replied " yeah, don't worry about it, meantime tell the boys to be ready". Joe nodded in agreement as he walked away. " I got a question for you Rick" said Juan as he motioned for Rick to get closer. Cautiously, he approached the Mexican who had slight grin on his face as he asked" It was you wasn't it?" The one who moved our shoes over here? Cause last time I remembered we all walked in wearing them" Rick slowly nodded his head as he opened his mouth and was about to speak when Juan abruptly said; " Well, I got to thank you man. If it wasn't for you, we might have been chewed out, or maybe even worse" With that he slapped his arm against Rick's shoulder and added with a chuckle " from now on, we'll take our shoes off and if we forget, ill give you authority to remind us ". "Really?" suddenly asked Rick with surprise. " yeah, along with that I hope you don't mind checking over the house. Seems like you know a lot about Japanese culture huh?" asked Juan much to Rick's surprise; " Really, it'll be a pleasure Skip" commented Rick with a grin. Juan's face brightened up as he smacked both of Rick's shoulders simultaneously; " Excellent, I know you'll be a great housekeeper, or the correct term which is, uh footman I believe" commented Juan as he walked away from Rick who had a blank and shocked look deeply etched on his face, his mind quickly thinking of a single thought that stuck out to him like a thorn. ' R..Rick, did you just get swindled by the Skipper?'

* * *

"Alright, lets just skip a bit ahead since it just these two guys talking, I want to see a bit of action here" loudly commented Caesar as she slowly stood up and stretched her legs as everyone looked between her and the large TV. Suddenly a loud buzzing grabbed everyone's attention as they all turned towards Yukari who quickly looked into her bag and pulled out her phone which was vibrating violently in her hand. She looked at it with a quizzical look on her face as she swiped, " Its from Miporin, Hello?" Caesar continued on her path as she tried to slowly walked over the mess that was in the middle of the living room. " aright, so it will be in an hour then? What about Hippo team?"" said Yukari as the rest of the girls carefully and discreetly eavesdropped on the poofy haired girl. " Alright, ill let them know then, bye" finally said Yukari as she hung up the phone and looked towards everyone, only to be greeted by blank eyes that seemed to yearn for information. " What did Miho say?" asked Saemonza.

" Momo decided to have a short meeting this morning and we all have to attend" answered Yukari as she started to pack her folders and papers. " What about us? We don't have our StuG" commented Caesar as she fiddled around with the mouse. " Miho said she come around and we'll all ride it, like yesterday" added Yukari with a gentle smile on her face. Everyone nodded in unison as they slowly stood up and stretched as Saemonza commented " Every time we have a calm moment in life, Momo-Chan always has to interrupt it someway or another." " How long do we have before Miho arrives?" asked Erwin; " About 30 minutes" rapidly replied Yukari. " Enough time to change, here lets get to it then, don't want to keep Momo waiting on us" ordered Erwin as she walked over to Caesar as she was still fiddling with the video. "Hey, we can mess with that once we come back Caesar" said Erwin as she glanced at the screen which showed the lines of A6M zeroes and Tony's, their propellers spinning as their blades made a shiny circle. " And right when I find the part that starts to seem interesting we got to go" bluntly said Caesar as she paused the video and started to walk to her room. " You know we'll watch it once we come back right?' said Erwin as she stood still and glanced back at the paused computer screen. Her eyes focused on the open canopies of the planes that clearly showed the pilots with shining glass goggles that brilliantly glittered in the late afternoon sun. ' Those boys, I wonder if any of them will be killed, especially that one freshman? ' she thought as her eyes didn't leave the screen, her eyes focusing more and more on the planes and the young boys who were at the controls. A horrid feeling abruptly hit her stomach as the mere thought of death being publicly shown began to sicken her. " I wonder if that one boy, Juan, had the same feeling I'm having right now before" she softly said to herself as she tore her eyes away from the screen and began to walk to her room, her hand close to her stomach as a feeling of uneasiness beagn to crawl all over her.


	23. Chapter 23

(I'm so sorry for the long wait for a chapter that's short and basically doesn't do much in the plot. I've hit a wall and I don't know if I can climb over it. I want to continue my story and the new one I've started for all of you who have taken the interest in my tale, even if its just practice for my writing abilities. But now I'm feeling that I'm loosing touch with the story. Hopefully ill get out of my slum and get the mojo to keep going with Juan and his gang and the girls )

" Well whadda he say? The guy with the glasses?" roughly asked Joe as his right hand jerked at the gear lever and the jeep slightly jumped forward as it purred and whined. Juan's hair flew gently under his worn tan crush cap,a constant cold breeze hitting him as he looked at his legs that dangled beside the speeding jeep as house after house flew by. " Egh, I asked him about it and he said it'll be alright to go back and get our remaining shit" Juan answered with a blunt tone as he rubbed his eyes. " Wish we could go there now" commented Doc as he turned back towards Juan who was sitting in the passengers seat with a lazy posture and look upon his face. " Well we got to clean those tanks, that was part of the deal why we are allowed to stay here for the time being" said Juan as he looked up at Doc who was sitting on the hood of the jeep huddled beside Chuck, Tony and Chris. " That's great and all, but I wish the bastards would at least have given us at best another day before cleaning them" loudly retorted Tony, reaching into his Hawaiian shirt pocket and grabbing the last cigarette he had saved. Juan leaned back and closed his eyes, the jeep jumping again as Joe shifted gears; " Well he said something important is going to happen tomorrow and he said all the tanks had to be fucking spotless basically". " Well did he say what the thing was going to be?" curiously asked Erik, his eyes falling upon his captain. " Nein man, he just said wait" added Juan with the same blunt tone. " FUCK!: abruptly yelled Tony as he smacked his chest and pants pockets; " I left my lighter back at the house". Everyone grinned as silence overtook the jeep as it drove on behind a shiny black sedan at slightly reflected the thin beams of sunlight that passed through the sea of houses and clouds. " Well, that's just god tellin' ya should save that smoke for another time man" chuckled Joe as he slightly leaned to the left to get a decent view of the road in front of him. "Its hard as shit driving on the left side of the road, especially when we got an American made jeep that has the wheel on the left, compared to jap cars who have them on the right. Why do island countries always do that?" grumbled Joe as chatter and small talk slowly broke between the boys as the never-ending view of houses only increased two-fold. " I don't want to be 'that' guy, but I'm getting pretty fucking bored on here; How much further do we have to endure this ride Juan?" loudly asked Brock as he quickly turned his attention to a pair of middle-aged ladies who were both carrying heavy plastic bags filled to the brim with groceries at one side of the sidewalk. Their faces went completely blank as they looked at what appeared to be a group of boys with four wheels underneath them as they sped by. "I don't fucking know where we are going!" exclaimed Juan as he tilted his head back and glanced at Brock. Juan then slowly turned his head back and added with a jaded tone; " All they said is follow them until they stop at the school sheds and then they'll give us more instructions, nothing more, nothing less". Silence consumed the jeep as its constant humming and whining echoed throughout the street. "Mmm, how about we play a game then?" abruptly asked Rick; " play a road game?! The hell do you think is this? A vacation road trip?" rapidly snapped Erik. A slightly smug grin appeared on Juan's face as he said " I'm with Rick there, I've always wanted to play a road game before. Come on guys, it'll be fun. The only difference here is that Joe is driving instead of Chevy Chase, and we haven't killed a dog or Aunt Edna". " Not yet anyways" commented Joe as he slowly turned the jeep around a corner. Everyone remained quiet as they all looked at Juan who quickly looked back, only to be met with confused expressions. "Come on, Lampoon's vacation? You guys never watched that?" asked Juan with a slight quizzical look etched on his face. " I mean I did long ago" said Joe; " but its been so long I've forgotten most of it." he added. " I haven't watched it" commented James as everyone shook their heads and added their inputs. " damn I gotta show you guys that film one of these days" said Juan as he adjusted his cap. " You think we will have enough time?" asked Tony; " Course we will, we got two fucking weeks off basically" retorted Juan. ' Two weeks..' he thought to himself as his face turned serious, ' I wonder how long we'll last before our sanity trickles away from our hands'.

* * *

"Hey Miporin, you sure kept us waiting!" exclaimed Yukari as she waved her hand high above her head towards the beaten up brown panzer as it drove up towards the gate of the History Club's house. " Sorry about that, Mako is still asleep" slightly giggled Miho as he slowly climbed out of her cupola and reached down towards Yukari's outstretched hand. " How long do you think this will last?" abruptly asked Caesar as she turned back towards the doorway at Erwin who was locking up. Erwin quickly glanced over to her friend with a lightly annoyed look upon her face as a click echoed throughout the yard; " How am I supposed to know, all I hope that it doesn't last all day, I got things to do" she said as she walked up to Caesar whose eyes didn't leave her for a second. A mischievous grin slowly appeared across Caesar's face as her eyes fell upon her friend as she looked straight at the light grey clouds above the horizon that seemed to stretch for miles over the ocean's surface in the distance. " Don't you mean what 'we' have to do all day? If you remember you weren't the only one interested in the sport your crush plays" Erwin slapped her friend's shoulder with a loud thud as Caesar immediately looked at Erwin who had a glowing look in her eyes. " jeez Erwin I'm just joking" commented Caesar as she slapped Erwin's shoulder with a slight grin. " I know you are, but there's a point where a joke becomes stale" Erwin mumbled as she started to walk towards the panzer as it idled at the gate. " yeah, but there's also a point where a joke turns into reality" Caesar said under her breath as she adjusted her scarf and began to walk behind Erwin as they both climbed on the beat up brown Panzer as Oryou and Saemonza helped them onboard. " Right, we are all here Miporin, lets go" exclaimed Yukari with a grin as the panzer lunged forward as the engine began to roar to life.

* * *

As the jeep turned around a corner, large garages slowly staring to appear out of the sea of houses as the jeep went on, following the black sedan as it seemed to head towards the looming buildings. " D'ya think that's the place we are heading Juan?" asked Joe as he stuck out his head over the boys who were sitting on the hood. "Looks like" replied Juan with an etched look written across his face. The houses and shops suddenly disappeared as a large glass building with multiple smaller buildings on its sides came into view. " So that's their school?!" loudly asked Tony with a sarcastic tone as his eyes darted at every single building; "hell our school back at home is bigger than this shit." he added. " Then again Tony, our school is on land and this whole carrier acts like their school, remember?" added Erik as he too looked at the glass building as it reflected the light grey sky as if it was a painting. " Well it isn't my fault if I haven't been on one of those school ships" said Tony as he looked at the street as it flew by. " the fuck are you saying man? You going around like we've been on those private carrier ships back home, we are in the same boat as you man, fucking literally this time too" added Erik as he took off his crush cap and ran his fingers through his dark hair. The small convoy suddenly rolled into a large dirt clearing with the four large garages on one end, all with large doors that were closed shut. A small dust cloud quickly rose up as the vehicles stopped, all eyes quickly falling upon two girls that were standing in front of the middle garage, their arms at their sides as they looked back at the Americans, their faces blank as their eyes seemed to scan at every boy that was on the jeep. "Guess this is the end of the line fellas, lets go see what these chicks want then" announced Joe, turning off the jeep as everyone slowly got out of the worn thing as their stretched and yawned. Juan raised his arms high in the air, his back gently popping as he quickly glanced at Mr. Yamada and two others getting out of the black sedan in front of them. They casually walked over towards the two girls and started to talk amongst themselves in a small group. As they talked, a girl with black hair and a monocle looked at the boys repeatedly with what appeared to be different variations of a distasteful demeanor every time her eyes fell upon the group of raggedy and odd looking boys. "Seems like that chick with that monocle over there doesn't seem to like us" softly commented Joe as his eyes glanced at every single shed that were in front of them. The boys formed a rough semi circle as they all looked towards the sheds. " How long do you think this will take skip?" asked James as he rubbed his face. Juan looked at his ball gunner and quickly shrugged as he answered with a blunt tone " I don't know man. I cant really be sure how many tanks they have. All I remember seeing was the grey Tiger P. I'm praying its just that one tank". " What if it was twenty?" abruptly added Erik as he looked at Juan. Brock sarcastically laughed as he added " hahaha, if its twenty, then uh, imma go and fucking hang myself right now . I'm too lazy to clean those bitches' tanks" " What if they paid you in their bodies man?" jokingly asked James as he slapped Brock's shoulder. " Listen man, if they have some ass maybe we can settle, but other than that, its still a no from me". Everyone chuckled as they stood in their semi circle, trying to make the best out of their seemingly boring situation. Erik's eyes widened as he asked " Well, what about the tits man? If they had some big ones and said they were going to compensate me with their lovely bodies, Ill clean all those tanks with a fucking toothbrush!" Brock smiled as he added; " I don't go for tits man, if she was flat chested, but had a huge ass I'd go for her." " How come?" abruptly asked Joe as he looked at Brock. Brock immediately smiled as he looked around at everyone and nodded and with a proud tone loudly said " because an ass man, is never a wrong man!" " Damn right!" cheered Juan and Tony as they busted out laughing in agreement.

* * *

" Mr. Yamada, are you sure that letting those Americans clean our tanks is a good idea?" nervously asked Momo as she glanced at the group of boys with a face of distaste. " I think its a suitable idea" replied Mr. Yamada with a blank tone as he carefully glanced at the boys, his glasses slightly glowing bright as faint rays of sunlight hit them. Momo's face immediately turned sour as her head began to fill with a multitude of negative thoughts and outcomes, her heart beginning to race. " But, why is it such a good idea? Why don't we just let our own automotive club take care of it like they always do?" quickly retorted Momo, her voice becoming more emphatic. Mr. Yamada's face slightly stiffened; " Because they did some damage to this ship, and for that I decided to let them do some labor to make up for it". Momo quickly added with anger growing in every word; " Then if they damaged this ship, wouldn't it be better if we locked up those criminals? Besides, they all look like the type to make a mess of this ship, so why don't we just cut the crap and lock up those boys in the place where they belon.." " MS. KAWASHIMA!" immediately yelled Mr. Yamada as his eyes fell upon Momo who quickly shut down as the student council president looked on. Anzu slowly began to speak as her face turned serious, her eyes falling upon Momo-Chan; " They wont be here long anyways remember, as long as we loose tomorrow, you wont have to worry about them alright? But for now I believe all the girls should have a good rest before the match" Momo slowly looked at President Anzu with a perplexed face;" besides, if you really want to get rid of them just tell the girls we have to loose on purpose, otherwise they'll be on this ship until we dock in two weeks and you can peek on them all you want along with the rest of us" she added as a smug expression began to slowly stretch across her face, Momo glowering at President Anzu as she gently smiled. Mr. Yamada coughed as he adjusted his tie, his eyes quickly falling upon the two girls as they looked back at him with unblinking eyes. " Girls, I hope you and the rest of the school can behave yourselves around these guys. I know having the opposite gender side by side is a new thing to all of you all, but it isn't the end of the world hehe" chuckled Mr. Yamada; " Just present yourselves and be polite and courteous" he added. " How will we be able to socialize with them if none of us can speak English?" abruptly asked Momo as she glanced at the group once again. " Ill find a couple of students that can speak English to be our translators, I know of a few that are exceptionally high in the foreign language classes, Ill go and ask if they are willing to help us out break this barrier between us and the group of men". Momo and Anzu slowly looked at each other with perplexed gazes as they both turned towards the man as Momo asked with a stutter" M..men? All I see is a group of misfit and odd looking 'boys'" Mr. Yamada slowly looked at her and turned around and looked at the group of boys that was talking between themselves as they laughed and chuckled; " They may look like boys on the outside, but what they've been through and seen, they are weary and tired men on the inside" he added with a dark, yet honest tone as his face turned sympathetic.


End file.
